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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
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ENDOWED  BY  THE 
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Old  ruined  castles,  witnesses  of  feudal 

Alsace  "  (See  page  230) 


Spell  o/ Alsace 

Andre  Hallays  * 

Translated,  with  a  foreword,  by 
Frank  Roy  Fraprie,  S.A/,,  F.R.P. 


ILLUSTRATED 


n 

BOSTON 

THE  PAGE  COMPANY 

MDCCCCXIX 

j  UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 

■-.y.'^i  i  10000642627 


This  book  is  due  at  the  LOUIS  R.  WILSON  LIBRARY  on  the 
last  date  stamped  under  "Date  Due."  If  not  on  hold  it  may  be 
renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library. 

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Form  No.  513 

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THE  PAGE  COMPANY 

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>■  ■  — —  i 

Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/spellofalsaceOOhall_0 


BOSTON 

THE  PAGE  COMPANY 

/  MDCCCCX1X  I  I  I 


Copyright,  1919, 
By  The  Page  Company 

All  rights  reserved 


First  Impression,  June,  1919 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction  ix 

Author's  Preface  xlv 

I.     MULHOUSE      .         .         .         .         .         .         .  1 

II.     ENSISHEIM.  —  ROUFFACH.  —  IsSENHEIM.  — 

GUEBWILLER.  —  MuRBACH       ...  18 

i 

III.  COLMAR  34 

IV.  Ammerschwihr,  Kaysersberg,  and  Rique- 

wihr.  —  Voltaire    in    Alsace.  — 

schlestadt.  —  hohkoenigsbourg       .  50 

V.    Sainte-Odile  and  Obernai  ....  70 
vi.    s  a  verne.  —  marmoutier.  —  blrckenwald. 

—  Saint-Jean-des-Choux     ...  78 

VII.   Alsace  in  1903    83 

VIII.     WlSSEMBOURG  101 

IX.   An  Excursion  in  the  Surroundings  of 

Strasburg.  —  The  Alsatian  Tradition  116 

!  X.    Toward  Sainte-Odile  130 

XI.    "In  the  Service  of  Germany,"  by  M. 

Maurice  Barres  148 

XII.   The  Castle  of  Martinsbourg.  —  Alfieri 

and  the  Countess  of  Albany    .  .165 
*q     XIII.   Ferrette  181 

r  v 


t 


vi 


Contents 


PAGE 

XIV.    Haguenau  and  Neubourg  ....  197 
XV.    Soultz-sous-Forets.  —  The  Letters  of  the 

Baroness  de  Bode       ....  205 

XVI.    The  Chateau  of  Reichshoffen  .      .      .  220 

XVII.   Eighteenth  Century  Art  in  Alsace       .  228 

XVIII.    The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  232 

XIX.    Churches  and  Abbeys       ....  266 
XX.    Public  Festivals  .      .             .      .  .271 

XXI.   The  Cities  of  Alsace       ....  281 

XXII.   Unchanging  Alsace   292 

Notes   313 

Index    .      .      .      .      ....  319 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

"  Old   Ruined   Castles,   Witnesses   of  Feudal 

Alsace"  (in  full  color)  (See  page  230)  .  Frontispiece 
MAP  OF  ALSACE    .       .      .      .      .      .      .  viii 

Portrait  of  Louis  XIV  xxvi 

Portrait  of  Henry  II  xxix 

Carved  Wooden  Door  from  Massevaux,  Mul- 

house  Museum  12 

The  Hotel  de  Ville,  Ensisheim    .       .      .  .19 

Turckheim  .      .      .  20 

The  Abbey  of  Murbach  31 

The  "  Virgin  in  a  Thicket  of  Roses  "  .  .39 

Ammerschwihr  50 

Kaysersberg  (in  full  color)  52 

Vineyards  near  Riquewihr  54 

A  Street  in  Riquewihr  56 

Portraits  of  Voltaire  (photogravure)  ...  58 
Portrait  of  Frederick  the  Great  ....  60 
Castle  of  Hohkoenigsbourg  (in  full  color)  .  .  66 
The  Garden  of  Hohkoenigsbourg  ....  68 

The  Walls  of  Obernai  75 

A  Well  at  Obernai  76 

Portrait  of  Louis  XVI  80 

Portrait  of  Stanislas  Leszczynski  ....  107 
Portrait  of  Marie  Leszczynska  (photogravure)      .  Ill 

Portrait  of  Louis  XV  114 

Old  Farm  at  Bueswiller  124 

Court  of  the  Alsatian  Museum,  Strasburg  .  .128 
South  Door  of  the  Church  of  Saint  Peter  and 

Saint  Paul,  Rosheim  130 

An  Ancient  House,  Rosheim  134 

vii 


viii  List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 

A  Fourteenth  Century  Gate,  Boersch       .  .136 

Eguisheim   .      .      .      .  -  166 

Portrait  of  Alfieri  170 

Portrait  of  the  Countess  of  Albany   .      .      .  173 

Portrait  of  Robespierre  187 

"Sometimes  we  behold  the  enormous  mass  of 

an  old  castle"  (in  full  color)     .       .       .  .189 

Portrait  of  Schiller  190 

Choir  of  Saint  Nicholas,  Haguenau     .      .      .  200 

Portrait  of  Hoche  216 

The  Chateau  of  Reichshoffen  .  .  .  .221 
Portrait  of  Cardinal  Armand  Gaston  de  Rohan- 

Soubise   233 

Strasburg  Cathedral  236 

Portrait  of  Robert  de  Cotte  242 

Portrait  of  Robert  Le  Lorrain       ....  250 

Portrait  of  Napoleon  254 

The  Chateau  of  Saverne  265 

Interior  of  the  Church  of  Guebwiller       .      .  269 

Portrait  of  Goethe  279 

Portrait  of  Marie  Antoinette  ....  280 
Hohkoenigsbourg  (restored) ...      .      .      .  295 


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INTRODUCTION 

After  almost  half  a  century  of  alien  domination, 
the  lost  provinces  of  France,  ravished  from  her 
by  Germany  in  1871,  have  again  been  occupied  by 
French  troops  and  administered  by  French  officials. 
Whatever  else  may  be  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  which  will  officially  end  the  Great  War, 
there  is  no  doubt  in  any  man's  mind  that  the 
territory  Germany  took  in  1871  will  remain  French. 
No  plebiscite  will  be  taken,  for  none  is  necessary. 
The  fortune  of  war  has  returned  what  the  fortune 
of  war  took,  and  those  Germans  who  immigrated 
into  Alsace  to  exploit  the  conquered  province  will 
have  the  choice  of  returning  whence  they  came  or 
remaining  on  the  soil  of  France. 

In  this  year  of  reunion  there  are  doubtless  many 

Americans  who  will  find  M.  Hallays'  book  valuable 

as  a  recent  and  faithful  description  of  the  feelings 

of  the  people  of  Alsace.    I  hope  it  may  be  the 

means  of  enlightening  some  of  the  doubters  as 

to  the  justice  of  giving  the  lost  provinces  back  to 

France,  and  also  that  its  charming  descriptions 

of  the  picturesque  scenery  and  architecture  of 

Alsace  may  be  the  means  of  interesting  many  an 

ix 


X 


Introduction 


American  tourist,  in  years  to  come,  in  a  visit  to 
this  pleasant  region.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to 
spend  a  considerable  part  of  the  summer  of  1913 
in  the  country  between  the  Vosges  and  the  Rhine, 
and  I  know  no  countryside  in  Europe  which  con- 
tains more  to  charm  and  interest  the  visitor  who 
desires  to  get  away  from  the  beaten  tracks  of 
travel. 

As  a  study  of  the  character  of  the  people,  as  a 
description  of  the  lovely  landscapes,  as  an  ap- 
preciation of  the  Renaissance  architecture  of 
Alsace,  nothing  could  surpass  the  pages  of  M. 
Hallays,  a  fluent  and  polished  writer,  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  his  subject.  He  gives  no  space  to 
Strasburg,  but  Strasburg  is  well  known  and  ade- 
quately described  by  the  guide  books.  Besides, 
the  spell  of  a  country  rarely  lies  in  great  cities, 
where  commerce  and  industry  tend  to  submerge 
racial  characteristics  and  render  one  cosmopolitan 
population  like  any  other.  Perhaps  in  his  keen 
appreciation  of  French  architecture  he  lacks  some- 
what in  sympathy  for  the  older  aspects  of  Alsace, 
and  the  lover  of  the  medieval  will  find  in  the  two 
provinces  most  charming  pictures  in  the  walls 
and  watchtowers  of  many  a  free  imperial  city  and 
in  the  hundreds  of  robber  castles  whose  picturesque 
ruins  crown  so  many  of  the  outlying  peaks  and 
ridges  of  the  Vosges  chain.    In  spite  of  these 


Introduction 


xi 


small  gaps  however,  M.  Hallays  has  drawn  a 
most  sympathetic  account  of  the  life  and  land  of 
the  Alsatians. 

Writing  as  a  Frenchman,  he  has  felt  that  his 
readers  were  fully  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
lost  provinces.  American  readers  may  find  that 
this  is  not  fully  treated  in  the  works  of  reference 
at  their  command,  and  I  therefore  propose  to 
briefly  summarize  Alsatian  history,  and  also  add 
a  few  paragraphs  on  what  happened  in  Alsace 
during  and  at  the  end  of  the  war.  Both  additions 
will  be  helpful  in  showing  how  events,  both  past 
and  present,  support  our  author's  thesis  throughout 
the  book,  that  Alsace  has  been  and  is  French  at 
heart. 

The  country  that  is  now  Alsace  first  appears  in- 
historical  documents  in  a  book  which  becomes  so 
familiar  to  most  of  us  in  our  school  days  that  we 
never  want  to  see  it  again,  and  hence  do  not  realize 
how  interesting  it  really  is.  This  book  is  Caesar's 
Commentaries,  almost  at  the  very  beginning  of 
which  we  read  of  his  difficulties  with  Ariovistus. 
This  German  chieftain  had  crossed  the  Rhine 
at  the  invitation  of  one  of  the  Gallic  tribes,  to 
help  it  fight  its  battles.  At  first,  15,000  Germans 
crossed  the  Rhine,  but  instead  of  returning  when 
the  fighting  was  over,  they  took  a  third  of  the 
land  of  the  Sequani  and  continued  to  come  until 


Xll 


Introduction 


120,000  had  settled  there.  By  this  time  they 
wanted  more  land  and  not  only  took  it  from  the 
Sequani  but  threatened  the  iEdui,  who,  being 
allies  of  the  Romans,  appealed  to  Caesar  for  as- 
sistance. The  Roman  general  took  possession 
of  Vesontio  (now Besangon),  forestalling  Ariovistus, 
and  then  had  a  conference  with  the  German  chief- 
tain, in  or  near  his  camp  at  what  is  now  Colmar 
in  Alsace.  Caesar's  troops  were  frankly  afraid 
of  the  terrible  Germans,  but  their  leader  brought 
back  their  courage  by  a  martial  speech,  and  as 
his  conference  with  Ariovistus  did  not  persuade 
the  latter  to  return  across  the  Rhine,  he  broke 
this  off  summarily,  attacked  the  Germans,  and 
drove  them  across  the  Rhine  in  disorder.  Ninety 
thousand  German  dead  were  left  upon  the  field, 
and  Ariovistus  and  his  two  wives  were  either  killed 
or  drowned. 

The  Gallic  tribes  were  thus  freed  from  the 
German  menace,  but  passed  under  Roman  domi- 
nation, and  for  more  than  four  hundred  years 
Alsace  was  part  of  the  Roman  Empire.  We  do 
not  find  there  many  Roman  buildings,  but  temple 
foundations,  roads,  and  forts  have  been  located 
in  considerable  numbers,  and  the  land  was  well 
settled  and  prosperous  under  the  Roman  rule. 
The  Germans  still  coveted  it,  and  their  attempts 
to  cross  the  Rhine  as  the  Empire  became  weaker 


Introduction 


• » • 

XUl 


were  continuous.  In  the  third  century  at  least 
seven  invasions  in  force  were  repelled.  In  353-4 
the  barriers  fell,  and  the  German  flood  swept  over 
Alsace,  no  less  than  forty-five  towns  having  been 
destroyed.  In  357  they  were  driven  out,  but  in 
367  the  Rhine  was  frozen  and  the  Germans  came 
across  on  the  ice.  Each  time  they  entered  it  be- 
came harder  to  drive  them  out,  and  when  in  403 
Honorius  withdrew  the  Roman  Legions  to  fight 
the  Vandals  in  Italy,  this  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end.  In  406  the  Vandals  and  the  Alans  com- 
pletely overran  Alsace,  and  in  twelve  months 
every  trace  of  the  Roman  civilization  had  been 
completely  destroyed.  The  next  year  came  the 
Burgundians,  and  after  them  the  Huns,  and  until 
these  latter  were  defeated  at  Chalons  in  451, 
and  Attila  was  driven  across  the  Rhine  for  the 
last  time,  Alsace  remained  a  waste. 

The  Celtic  population  of  Alsace  was  never  en- 
tirely dispossessed  or  enslaved.  Here  as  else- 
where, they  abandoned  the  plains  and  retreated 
to  the  fastnesses  of  the  high  valleys  and  the  moun- 
tain tops.  In  the  following  centuries  they  grad- 
ually came  down  again  and  mingled  with  the 
German  tribes.  The  names,  both  personal  and 
place,  became  Teutonic,  but  the  population,  as  is 
evident  by  the  contents  of  graves  and  especially 
the  characteristics  of  the  skulls,  remained  Celtic 


l 


xiv 


Introduction 


in  character,  and  this  strain  is  strongly  marked 
in  the  population  to  the  present  time.  The  three 
elements,  Celtic,  Frankish,  and  Teutonic,  have 
lived  continuously  in  Alsace,  and  this  tripartite 
character  of  the  population  explains  the  medieval 
proverb : 

Drey  Schlosser  auff  einem  Berge, 
Drey  Kirchen  auff  einem  Kirchoffe, 
Drey  Statte  in  einem  Thai, 
1st  das  ganze  Elsass  uberall. 

Three  castles  on  one  mountain, 
Three  churches  in  one  churchyard, 
Three  cities  in  one  valley, 
Such  is  Alsace  everywhere. 

After  the  defeat  of  Attila  the  Frankish  rulers 
of  Gaul  gradually  asserted  their  sovereignty  over 
Alsace.  In  496  Clovis  defeated  the  Allemanni 
on  the  Rhine,  and  in  536  the  latter  evacuated  all 
Gallic  territory,  although  a  few,  as  individuals,  re- 
mained in  Alsace  and  became  taxpayers.  Alsace 
was  erected  into  a  dukedom  by  the  Frankish 
sovereigns,  and  the  most  famous  of  these  dukes 
was  Ettich  or  Atticas,  whose  greatest  renown  is 
due  to  the  well-known  legend  of  his  daughter 
Odilie,  who  was  born  blind  and  miraculously  cured 


Introduction  xv 

by  the  water  of  baptism.  This  miracle  led  to  the 
Christianizing  of  Alsace. 

We  do  not  hear  further  of  dukes  of  Alsace,  and 
the  next  landmark  in  Alsatian  history  is  the  Treaty 
of  Verdun  in  843,  by  which  the  grandsons  of 
Charlemagne  divided  his  empire.  Charles  the 
Bald  received  France,  Louis  the  German  the 
territory  from  the  Rhine  to  the  111,  and  Lothaire, 
the  eldest,  became  emperor  and  received  Lotha- 
ringia,  the  middle  region  extending  from  Lorraine 
to  Italy  and  including  Alsace.  In  867  Lothaire's 
son,  Lothaire  II,  made  his  natural  son  Hugh  Duke 
of  Alsace,  but  the  Treaty  of  Mersen  in  870,  which 
deprived  Lothaire  II  of  all  of  his  territory  north 
of  the  Alps,  turned  Alsace  over  to  Louis  the 
German.  When  the  latter  died  in  876,  Hugh 
again  assumed  his  dukedom,  but  Charles  the  Fat 
blinded  and  imprisoned  him  and  became  ruler  of 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Germany  has 
counted  the  year  843  as  her  national  birthday, 
and  in  1843  the  millennium  of  the  German  empire 
was  celebrated.  This  empire  ended  in  1806.  It 
is  amusing  to  note  that  Alsace  was  not  a  part  of 
it  either  at  its  beginning  or  its  end. 

What  was  the  attitude  of  this  bit  of  territory 
toward  the  sovereigns  of  Germany  during  the 
Middle  Ages?    It  was  that  of  feudal  allegiance. 


XVI 


Introduction 


The  idea  of  national  sovereignty  existed  in  no 
man's  mind.  The  man  of  strength  among  the 
Gallic  and  German  tribes  became  a  leader  because 
of  his  personal  prowess,  and  acquired  possessions 
by  personal  valor  as  the  spoils  of  war.  He  gath- 
ered about  him  followers  whose  homes  and  lands 
he  protected  by  his  might,  and  who  gradually 
became  bound  to  render  him  service  in  war.  Thus 
arose  the  feudal  system,  and  as  the  peasant  swore 
allegiance  and  gave  military  support  to  the  knight 
or  petty  lord  who  protected  his  home,  this  knight 
in  turn  gave  allegiance  and  owed  military  service 
to  a  baron,  whose  territory  comprised  the  estates 
of  several  or  many  knights.  The  baron  in  turn 
was  feudally  dependent  on  another,  sometimes 
the  king  direct,  sometimes  a  count  or  duke,  and 
thus  step  by  step  the  feudal  structure  was  built 
up. 

The  theory  was  that  the  oath  of  homage  was 
inviolable  and  the  feudal  obligation  permanent. 
This  obligation,  however,  was  mutual ;  the  vassal 
owed  allegiance,  but  the  suzerain  was  bound  to 
furnish  protection,  and  if  this  was  not  given  the 
vassal  could  theoretically  and  often  did  prac- 
tically renounce  his  allegiance,  and  transfer  it  to 
another  overlord  better  able  to  fulfill  his  feudal 
duties.  The  question  of  allegiance  in  border  lands 
was  not  always  easy  to  solve,  and  the  nobles  of 


Introduction 


xvii 


Alsace  sometimes  gave  allegiance  to  French  over- 
lords and  sometimes  to  German.  In  fact,  many 
a  lord  of  the  marches  was  a  vassal  of  the  French 
king  and  a  member  of  the  Circle  of  the  Empire. 
Territories  as  far  south  as  Provence  remained  fiefs 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  (which  as  Bryce  says, 
"was  neither  holy,  nor  Roman,  nor  an  empire") 
until  late  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

We  are  thus  justified  in  considering  that  the 
tie  which  bound  Alsace  to  any  German  sovereign 
for  many  centuries  was  wholly  a  personal  one,  and 
in  no  sense  national,  so  when  Charles  the  Simple 
of  France  acquired  Alsace  and  Lorraine  in  911, 
and  when  he  was  deposed  in  923  and  Henry  the 
Fowler,  the  German  Emperor,  took  possession, 
the  people  of  Alsace  knew  only  of  the  change  in  a 
remote  overlord,  and  were  probably  hardly  con- 
scious of  any  difference  in  their  condition,  or  in 
the  rights  and  duties  which  were  the  rule  of  their 
existence. 

During  the  eleventh  century  the  dukedom  of 
Alsace  passed  to  the  house  of  Hohenstauffen,  of 
which  it  remained  an  appanage  until  the  last  of 
that  line,  the  ill-fated  Conradin,  died  on  the  scaffold 
at  Naples  in  1268.  In  1168  Werner  of  Hapsburg 
became  the  first  landgrave  of  the  Sundgau,  the 
more  southerly  of  the  two  gaus  or  regions  into 
which  Alsace  was  divided.    This  race  of  Haps- 


xviii 


Introduction 


burg,  a  violent  and  masterful  strain,  first  rose  to 
historical  note  in  the  eleventh  century,  when  a 
wild  hunter  named  Radbod,  said  to  be  a  descendant 
of  Duke  Ettich,  built  a  robber  castle  in  a  wild  and 
picturesque  spot  on  the  river  Aar.  It  is  said  that 
he  found  this  fastness  while  hunting  by  following 
a  hawk  (habicht  in  German),  whi  h  led  him  to  a 
wild  and  unknown  region.  Hence  he  named  his 
castle  Habichtsburg,  which  became  corrupted  to 
Habsburg  or  Hapsburg. 

From  the  time  when  Werner  became  the  Land- 
grave of  Sundgau,  the  Hapsburgs  retained  posses- 
sion of  this  territory,  and  their  right,  at  first  that  of 
appointment,  soon  became  hereditary,  for  the 
German  emperors  were  in  no  position  to  assert 
claims  of  proprietorship  in  such  a  remote  region  of 
the  Empire.  The  Hapsburgs  themselves  were  not 
able  to  hold  the  whole  land  for  their  own.  The 
Nordgau  was  dependent  on  the  See  of  Strasburg, 
and  the  cities  of  Alsace  acquired  wealth,  asserted 
their  independence  of  any  overlord,  and  became 
free  cities  of  the  Empire.  By  1475  the  Decapolis, 
or  League  of  Ten  Cities,  although  governed  by  a 
hereditary  prefect  of  the  Hapsburg  clan,  were  all 
members  of  the  Empire  in  their  own  right,  with 
an  appeal  to  the  Diet.  Mulhouse  did  not  even 
submit  to  a  prefect.  Strasburg  was  the  dominant 
see  of  the  Nordgau,  and  its  archbishop  was  the 


Introduction  xix 

feudal  overlord  of  numerous  abbeys,  lordships  and 
villages  throughout  northern  Alsace,  the  city  it- 
self very  early  becoming  a  free  city  of  the  Empire. 
In  July,  1205,  it  became  an  " immediate"  city  of 
the  Empire.  In  1219  it  obtained  a  new  charter, 
still  more  favorable,  and  in  1482,  by  the  famous 
document  known  as  the  Schworbrief,  it  became 
an  absolutely  free  republic,  subject  to  no  domina- 
tion or  taxation  of  any  sort  from  outside  sources. 
Its  burghers  annually  renewed  their  oath  of  al- 
legiance to  their  own  council,  and  so  solid  was  the 
foundation  of  their  liberty  that  even  that  im- 
perious despot,  Louis  XIV,  did  not  attempt  to 
infringe  upon  their  rights  and  independence. 

By  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  though 
the  Emperor  was  theoretically  freely  elected,  the 
Empire  had  become  almost  Hapsburg,  and  the 
cadet  branch  of  this  house,  in  the  person  of 
the  Archduke  Sigismund,  owned  Tyrol  as  well  as 
the  Landgraviate  of  the  Sundgau,  the  County  of 
Ferrette  and  other  Alsatian  possessions.  Sigis- 
mund claimed  also  territorial  rights  in  Switzer- 
land, and  as  a  result  was  constantly  at  war  with 
the  hardy  mountaineers.  He  finally  was  so  hard 
pressed  by  the  Swiss  that  he  decided  to  buy  peace 
from  them,  and  offered  to  sell  his  Alsatian  pos- 
sessions to  Louis  XI  of  France.  This  monarch 
refused  to  buy,  so  he  then  turned  to  Charles  the 


XX 


Introduction 


Bold  of  Burgundy,  who  had  a  great  ambition  to 
unite  his  provinces  in  the  Netherlands  with  the 
County  and  Duchy  of  Burgundy,  and  thus  re- 
vive the  Middle  Kingdom  of  Lothaire.  By  the 
Treaty  of  Saint  Omer,  signed  May  9,  1460, 
Charles  bought  from  Sigismund  his  seigniorial 
rights  in  the  Landgraviate  of  Alsace,  the  County 
of  Ferrette,  and  certain  Rhine  towns.  For  this 
he  paid  ten  thousand  florins  on  the  spot,  and 
seventy  thousand  more  to  be  delivered  before 
September  24.  Sigismund  reserved  the  right  of 
redemption  on  condition  that  he  should  repay 
at  Besangon  the  whole  sum  at  one  time,  plus  any 
outlay  made  by  Charles.  Knowing  the  impe- 
cunious character  of  Sigismund,  the  Burgundian 
sovereign  thought  he  was  safe  in  assuming  that 
the  claim  would  never  be  paid  off.  By  this  trans- 
action Charles  became  the  sovereign  of  Alsace 
and  a  landgrave  of  the  Empire,  with  the  right  to 
a  seat  in  its  Diet,  even  though  he  was  a  peer  of 
France.  This  right  he  neither  exercised  nor 
desired,  but  proceeded  to  appoint  commissioners 
to  investigate  exactly  what  he  had  bought.  Their 
report  showed  a  confusion  of  rights,  charters, 
mortgages,  and  other  obligations  of  title,  so  in- 
volved and  intricate  that  human  ingenuity  would 
despair  of  ever  disentangling  the  complication. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  tangle  was  never  straight- 


Introduction 


xxi 


ened  out  until  the  French  Revolution  summarily 
ended  all  feudal  claims  and  privileges. 

Sigismund  shortly  repented  of  his  bargain,  and 
with  the  help  of  his  friends  in  the  Empire  raised 
enough  money,  and  offered  the  stipulated  repay- 
ment in  a  single  sum.  Charles  refused  to  receive 
it,  and  the  money  was  apparently  never  returned 
to  Burgundy.  His  ambitious  project  neverthe- 
less died.  He  sent  into  Alsace  a  "landvogt"  who 
tried  to  reduce  the  free  city  of  Mulhouse  to  the 
state  of  a  vassal  of  Burgundy.  The  Mulhousians 
responded  by  placing  him  on  trial  for  life  and 
executing  him.  The  troops  of  Charles  came  into 
conflict  with  the  Swiss,  were  defeated  and  almost 
exterminated,  and  Charles  himself  lost  his  life 
on  the  bloody  field  of  Nancy.  Then  Sundgau 
and  Ferrette  again  became  Austrian,  with  the 
tangle  of  debts  and  mortgages  still  unraveled. 

During  the  sixteenth  century  Alsace  was  dev- 
astated by  the  Peasants'  War  and  Protestant 
risings.  The  Mass  at  Strasburg  was  peaceably 
abolished  by  the  vote  of  the  burghers  on  Febru- 
ary 20,  1529.  The  process  was  not  so  peaceable 
in  the  territories  of  the  Hapsburgs,  and  there 
was  much  persecution.  The  struggle  continued 
throughout  the  century,  and  until  the  Thirty 
Years  War,  during  which  Alsace  was  overrun  and 
harassed  by  Swedes,  Austrians,  and  French.  The 


xxii 


Introduction 


cities  were  taken  and  retaken,  one  having  been 
sacked  ten  times.  After  the  death  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  Bernard  of  Saxe- Weimar,  who  took 
command  of  the  Protestant  forces  at  Liitzen,  signed 
an  alliance  with  Catholic  France,  in  the  person 
of  Cardinal  Richelieu.  He  dreamed  of  founding 
an  Alsatian  kingdom,  under  imperial  sovereignty, 
but  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  in  1639,  and  his 
troops  passed  into  the  hands  of  Richelieu,  under 
a  stipulation  that  the  Protestant  religion  was  to  be 
freely  exercised  and  the  garrison  to  be  half  French 
and  half  German.  With  France  thus  in  possession, 
the  Peace  of  Westphalia  transferred  Alsace  to 
French  sovereignty,  and  Gaul  secured  its  natural 
frontier,  the  Rhine.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire 
was  only  a  loose  federation.  It  was  not  German, 
for  it  at  various  times  comprised  territory  in  the 
Low  Countries,  France,  Austria,  Switzerland,  and 
Italy,  as  well  as  Germany.  The  Peace  of  West- 
phalia broke  the  last  nominal  link  which  bound 
the  empire  as  a  whole  to  Rome.  It  was  after- 
ward only  an  association  of  German  states,  com- 
prising no  less  than  343  political  units. 

What  did  the  Treaty  of  Munster  provide  in 
regard  to  Alsace,  and  was  this  forcibly  reft  from  the 
German  Empire  ?  As  far  as  Alsace  itself  was  con- 
cerned, it  was,  with  the  exception  of  the  republics 
of  Strasburg  and  Mulhouse,  a  willing  party  to  the 


Introduction  xxiii 

treaty.  Despite  the  opposition  of  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand,  Doctor  Mark  Otto  sat  as  the  Alsatian 
envoy  in  the  negotiations  and  signed  the  conven- 
tions for  Alsace.  The  treaty  itself  was  formal 
and  definite.  Article  75  provided  as  follows : 
"The  Emperor,  in  his  own  behalf  and  in  that  of 
the  most  serene  House  of  Austria,  cedes  the  rights, 
domains,  possessions,  and  jurisdictions  which 
hitherto  belonged  to  him,  to  the  Empire,  and  to 
the  House  of  Austria,  in  the  city  of  Breisach,  the 
landgraviates  of  Upper  and  Lower  Alsace,  the 
Sundgau,  the  prefecture  general  of  the  ten  im- 
perial cities  situated  in  Alsace  .  .  .  and  all  the 
countries  and  other  rights  of  whatever  nature, 
which  are  comprised  within  the  prefecture,  —  by 
transferring  all  and  each  to  the  very  Christian 
King  and  to  the  realm  of  France."  Article  76 
provided  "that  the  cession  was  made  for  all  time, 
without  reservation,  with  plenary  jurisdiction  and 
superiority  and  sovereignty,  forever  ...  so  that 
no  Emperor  and  no  prince  of  the  House  of  Austria 
could  or  ought  ever  at  any  time  to  make  pretentions 
to,  or  usurp  any  right  and  puissance  over  the  said 
lands." 

Article  79  provided  "that  the  Emperor,  the 
Empire,  and  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  Charles 
should  discharge  all  officials  in  the  ceded  territory 
from  their  oaths  of  fealty  toward  themselves." 


xxiv 


Introduction 


The  intent  of  this  article  was  to  release  all  of 
Alsace  to  France,  but  the  complexity  of  tenure 
of  suzerainty  and  of  property  rights  was  not  fully 
realized.  So  far  the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  clear 
enough,  but  article  89  introduced  a  doubt.  By 
this  it  was  provided  that  the  subordinate  units  in 
Alsace  were  still  "  immediate  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  and  that  the  King  of  France  should  have 
no  royal  supremacy  over  them,  and  should  suc- 
ceed only  to  the  rights  of  the  archduke."  This 
contradicts  the  previous  articles,  but  is  itself  im- 
mediately weakened  by  a  further  declaration  that 
this  provision  shall  be  "no  prejudice  of  sovereign 
rights  previously  accorded." 

The  best  explanation  of  these  contradictions  is 
that  each  party  succeeded  in  inserting  provisions 
to  save  its  pride,  and  that  each  obtained  in  words 
what  he  held  out  for,  though  France  received  the 
territory  in  fact,  and  the  Archduke  was  to  receive 
as  compensation  the  sum  of  three  million  livres 
tournois,  which  would  be  about  three-quarters  as 
much  in  livres  parisis,  or  about  $500,000  of  our 
money.  It  has  been  claimed  by  German  his- 
torians that  this  payment  was  never  made,  and 
that  this  rendered  the  cession  null  and  void.  The 
facts  are  that  the  Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees,  in  1659, 
again  stipulated  that  this  sum  should  be  paid 
within  three  years,  in  five  installments,  to  the 


Introduction 


XXV 


Archduke  Ferdinand  Charles.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 30,  1662,  without  having  received  it,  and  it 
was  paid  to  his  brother  and  heir,  the  Archduke 
Sigismund  Francis,  in  December,  1663,  and  the 
receipt  still  exists  in  the  national  archives  of 
France. 

Louis  XIV  never  claimed  any  rights  as  a  member 
of  the  German  empire  which  he  might  have  ac- 
quired under  the  Treaty  of  Munster,  but  pro- 
ceeded to  extend  French  sovereignty  over  Alsace 
as  rapidly  as  seemed  feasible.  At  first  the  cus- 
toms frontier  ran  between  Alsace  and  France, 
and  there  was  resistance  in  some  quarters,  and 
even  occasionally  a  resort  to  arms,  before  the 
Alsatian  towns  recognized  French  sovereignty. 
Even  after  this  had  been  formally  accepted,  the 
towns  of  the  Decapolis  still  sent  representatives 
to  the  Imperial  Diet.  Mulhouse  had  joined  the 
Swiss  League,  and  was  neither  French  nor  Im- 
perial, and  Strasburg  still  remained  autonomous. 
The  French  on  the  whole,  however,  pursued  a  con- 
ciliatory policy  without  putting  innovations  in 
force  against  the  will  of  the  people,  and  each  of 
the  wars  of  Louis  XIV  left  the  position  of  France 
in  Alsace  a  little  firmer. 

In  1679  the  Peace  of  Nimwegen  was  signed,  and 
by  this  the  Emperor  formally  turned  over  to 
France  the  possession  of  Wissembourg  and  Landau, 


xxvi 


Introduction 


while  Louis  XIV  retained  possession  of  the  other 
cities  of  the  Decapolis,  which  had  been  garrisoned 
by  France.  All  the  cities  then  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  King  of  France,  and  the  Sovereign 
Council  of  Alsace  was  formed  as  a  local  parliament. 

The  king  was  anxious  to  extend  his  influence 
over  Strasburg,  because  of  its  important  military 
situation  guarding  the  Rhine.  A  treaty  was 
executed,  and  Louis  took  possession  of  the  city 
in  1681.  The  terms  of  the  treaty  provided  that 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  should  not 
be  valid  for  Strasburg,  but  nevertheless,  the 
Catholic  influence  remained  strong  in  the  city. 
The  king  entered  the  city  with  great  pomp  on 
October  23,  and  thereafter  there  was  no  question 
of  imperial  influence  in  the  capital  of  Alsace.  At 
the  Peace  of  Ryswick  in  1695,  Strasburg  was 
formally  and  perpetually  joined  to  the  French 
crown. 

After  this  long  series  of  treaties  it  might  be 
assumed  that  Alsace  had  become  completely 
French,  but  the  feudal  ties  of  obligation  were  so 
complex  and  difficult  of  abolition,  that  it  was  an 
almost  impossible  task  to  destroy  theoretical 
imperial  sovereignty,  even  though  it  practically 
did  not  exist.  In  1648  France  acquired  from  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  284  communities ;  in  1679 
from  the  Empire  313;   in  the  next  sixteen  years 


PORTRAIT    OF    LOUIS  XIV 


j 


Introduction 


xxvii 


202.  But  even  after  1695  there  were  almost  fifty 
feudal  units  which  still  owed  suzerainty  to  German 
overlords.  Another  century  was  required  for  the 
extinction  of  these  rights,  and  it  required  no  less 
a  catastrophe  than  the  French  Revolution  to 
abolish  feudalism.  In  February,  1790,  various 
princes,  orders,  and  knights  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  protested  to  the  French  government 
against  the  confiscation  of  their  properties  or  the 
abolition  of  their  feudal  rights.  In  October  of 
the  same  year  the  Assembly  decided  to  uphold 
French  sovereignty,  and  to  ask  the  king  to  pay 
suitable  indemnity.  This  the  princes  declined, 
and  took  their  grievances  to  the  Imperial  Diet. 
Futile  effort !  The  march  of  events  was  inex- 
orable. First  Louis  XIV,  and  then  the  Empire 
itself,  disappeared.  Alsace  remained  wholly 
French,  and  the  owners  of  the  feudal  rights  re- 
ceived no  compensation.  Another  treaty,  that 
of  Bale,  in  1795,  between  France  and  Prussia, 
recognized  the  facts,  and  gave  France  a  free  hand 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  a  condition  which 
was  not  altered  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  but 
which  remained  undisputed  until  1870. 
f  This  short  survey  of  the  history  of  Alsace  re- 
veals that  Alsace  as  a  border  land  has  passed  from 
owner  to  owner,  with  little  regard  to  the  rights 
of  the  people,  and  it  is  not  surprising  under  these 


xxviii 


Introduction 


conditions  that  during  a  great  part  of  its  history 
no  such  thing  as  national  sentiment  did  or  could 
exist.  The  people  of  Alsace  looked  to  their  im- 
mediate superiors  for  help  and  protection,  and 
were  more  or  less  indifferent  to  the  dynasties  which 
theoretically  ruled  them.  During  the  period  when 
the  unified  nations  of  today  were  reaching  their 
modern  form,  the  predominant  influence  in  Alsace 
was  French.  It  was  never  harsh  or  arbitrary. 
There  was  never  any  attempt  to  force  customs, 
laws,  or  language  on  an  unwilling  people.  Con- 
sequently German  sentiment  and  German  speech 
almost  disappeared  from  the  provinces,  and  the 
patois  of  the  common  people,  though  basically 
Teutonic,  became  almost  incomprehensible  to 
educated  Germans.  There  is  nothing  which  unifies 
national  sentiment  like  the  prosecution  of  a  pro- 
tracted and  successful  war,  and  the  Napoleonic 
Wars  delivered  Alsace  to  France  in  heart  and  soul. 
In  spite,  therefore,  of  the  false  arguments  which 
have  been  set  up  by  German  writers  in  the  last 
half  century  as  to  the  historic  bonds  uniting 
Alsace  with  Germany,  the  taking  of  Alsace  in 
1870  was  a  purely  selfish  proceeding,  designed 
for  the  military  and  economic  aggrandizement  of, 
primarily,  Prussia,  and  secondarily,  the  German 
Empire,  and  the  Prussian  authors  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  had  neither  illusions  nor  scruples  on  the 


PORTRAIT  OF  HENRY  II 


Introduction 


XXIX 


point  that  Alsace  was  French,  and  was  forcibly 
and  without  moral  justification  annexed  to  Ger- 
many. 

Of  the  French  province  of  Lorraine  but  a  small 
fraction  was  taken  by  Germany.  Lorraine  was 
essentially  French  throughout  the  Middle  Ages, 
though  portions  of  it  at  various  times  owed  al- 
legiance to  the  Empire,  but  the  bishoprics  of  Metz, 
Toul,  and  Verdun  were  taken  by  Henry  II  of 
France  from  Charles  III,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  a 
minor,  in  1552,  without  bloodshed,  and  were 
French  thereafter,  both  de  facto,  and  from  1559, 
when  no  reference  was  made  to  them  in  the  Treaty 
of  Gateau  Cambresis,  de  jure.  Germany  took  part 
of  the  province  in  1870  for  its  economic  value,  and 
would  have  taken  more  had  she  then  realized  the 
full  value  of  the  refractory  iron  ores  of  the  Briey 
Basin. 

*f*  ^jc  *Jc  ijc  *Jc  *Jc  *Jc 

What  happened  to  Alsace  during  the  war  ?  We 
all  know  that  the  French  made  a  considerable 
advance  into  Aisace  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
in  1914,  even  occupying  Mulhouse,  but  Germany's 
plunge  through  Belgium  shortly  nullified  this  ad- 
vance, and  the  French  lines  were  withdrawn  to 
defensible  positions  on  the  slopes  of  the  Vosges, 
which  were  retained  with  little  change  in  spite  of 
the  periods  of  sanguinary  fighting,  especially  about 


XXX 


Introduction 


Hartmannsweilerkopf,  the  dominating  crest  of 
the  Vosges,  until  practically  the  close  of  the  war. 
A  certain  number  of  Alsatian  communes  were  ad- 
ministered by  the  French  throughout  the  war ; 
the  greater  portion  remained  within  the  German 
lines.  The  front  on  the  whole  passed  through 
mountainous  territory,  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  town  of  Thann,  which  was  very  heavily  bom- 
barded and  almost  half  destroyed,  the  Alsatian 
settlements  suffered  very  little  devastation,  as 
compared  with  wide  districts  of  northern  France. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  opinion,  professed 
or  real,  of  German  writers  as  to  the  Germanization 
of  Alsace,  the  German  military  authorities  were 
under  no  illusions  as  to  their  task  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  They  knew  that  Alsace  was  French 
at  heart,  that  its  men  would  not  willingly  serve  in 
the.  German  armies,  that  its  women,  children,  and 
old  men  ardently  desired  French  victory.  So  from 
the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  they  treated  it  as 
if  it  were  still  French  and  not  German  territory. 

There  is  abundant  and  incontrovertible  testi- 
mony that  numerous  units  of  the  German  army, 
before  entering  Alsace-Lorraine,  were  formally 
notified  by  their  commanding  officers  that  they 
were  entering  hostile  territory,  and  that  it  would 
be  necessary  for  them  to  act  accordingly.  A 
lawyer  of  Colmar,  Paul  Albert  Helmer,  has  pub- 


Introduction 


xxxi 


lished  much  information  in  regard  to  this,  and 
even  his  voluminous  record  is  probably  incom- 
plete. 

"Load  your  rifles,"  said  Captain  Fischer,  of  the 
Fortieth  Territorial  Infantry,  "we  are  now  in  the 
enemy's  territory  (Hier  sind  wir  in  Feindesland) . " 

"Be  prudent,"  advised  one  of  the  lieutenants 
of  the  same  regiment,  "you  are  now  in  the  enemy's 
country.  If,  in  your  billets,  the  inhabitants  give 
you  anything  to  drink,  make  them  drink  first." 

"In  case  you  hear  a  Lorrainer  speak  French," 
said  Feldwebel  Barkentien  of  the  Second  Company 
of  the  Sanitary  Service  of  the  XXIst  Corps, 
"hang  him  by  the  feet  till  he  dies  miserably 
(Dass  er  langsam  krepiert).  We  are  here,  gen- 
erally speaking,  in  the  enemy's  country,  for  these 
'Shangels'  (Lorrainers)  are  more  to  be  feared 
than  our  enemies." 

The  German  soldiers  were  only  too  eager  to 
obey  orders  which  so  thoroughly  satisfied  their 
instinctive  brutality.  They  not  only  made  requi- 
sitions arbitrarily  and  extortionately,  but  they 
robbed,  burned,  and  murdered  on  the  flimsiest 
pretext,  consoling  their  consciences  by  repeating 
among  themselves,  "Here  we  are  in  the  enemy's 
country." 

*Jm  A  J,r  J*  afc  *f» 

*J»  ^»  *f» 

The  Germans  had  no  intention  of  ever  allowing 


XXX11 


Introduction 


the  French  to  recover  a  prosperous  land  if  the 
fortune  of  war  should  restore  to  them  Alsace. 
The  Kaiser  said,  "If  ever  we  give  Alsace-Lorraine 
back,  we  will  return  it  bald."  Happily  circum- 
stances beyond  the  boaster's  control  forbade  the 
execution  of  this  threat.  But  the  German  troops 
were  so  exasperated  at  being  obliged  to  retreat 
during  the  early  French  advance,  that  they  im- 
mediately began  to  show  what  their  Emperor  had 
in  mind  when  he  made  this  assertion.  They 
burned  many  farms,  among  them  that  of  a  pe  sant 

whose  name  was  recorded  only  as  B         in  the 

account  written  while  the  Germans  were  still 
in  control.    When  the  farmhouse  was  in  flames 

they  tied  B         to  a  tree  trunk  and  shot  him. 

His  daughter,  a  girl  of  fifteen,  was  wantonly  mur- 
dered by  an  officer,  who  passed  his  sword  through 
her  body.  They  took  with  them  a  boy  of  fourteen, 
and  did  not  give  him  time  to  put  on  his  shoes. 
His  felt  slippers  were  soon  worn  out,  and  when 
his  feet  began  to  bleed  he  begged  his  captors  to 
let  him  rest.  Instead  they  stood  him  against  a 
tree  and  shot  him,  leaving  his  body  for  the  peasants 
to  find  and  bury.  The  mother  went  insane,  there 
remaining  only  a  babe  in  arms  of  her  happy  family. 

When  the  Germans  returned  to  the  villages  which 
the  French  had  temporarily  occupied,  they  wreaked 
their  vengeance  on  all  the  inhabitants  who  were 


Introduction 


xxxiii 


reported  by  tale-bearing  compatriots  to  have  re- 
ceived the  French  with  hospitality.  An  old  man 
who  was  reported  to  have  carried  a  written  message 
for  a  French  officer  was  forced  to  dig  a  grave  and 
lie  down  in  it  to  be  shot.  In  a  village  where  the 
French  had  bought  provisions,  they  ordered  the 
inhabitants  to  deliver  without  compensation  every- 
thing that  was  left,  and  they  shot  an  old  man  for 
failing  to  surrender  four  eggs. 

Bourtzwiller,  near  Mulhouse,  was  occupied  by 
the  French  for  a  short  time,  a  fact  which  so  ex- 
asperated the  Germans  that  when  they  returned 
they  burned  fifty-six  houses.  As  further  punish- 
ment, they  shot  in  the  presence  of  their  families, 
Benjamin  Schott,  the  father  of  five  children,  and 
whose  wife  was  then  pregnant,  Schott's  seventeen- 
year-old  son,  and  one  of  his  farm  hands ;  Ignace 
Nieck,  and  his  son  Paul ;  Jean  Baptiste  Biehler, 
an  octogenarian,  and  Fritsch  Kuneyel.  They  also 
arrested,  beat,  bound,  and  carried  off  half  naked 
to  Mulhouse,  seventy-eight  of  the  inhabitants. 
Note  the  names  of  these  persons,  and  wonder 
whether  their  sympathies  were  French  or  German. 

Dalheim,  near  Chateau-Salins,  received  even 
worse  treatment.  Forty  houses  and  a  church  were 
burned,  with  their  contents,  including  the  bed- 
ridden ex-mayor,  Louis  Sommer,  and  the  live 
stock.    The  troops  shot  the  half-crazed  animals 


xxxiv 


Introduction 


which  were  able  to  escape  from  the  burning  build- 
ings. They  murdered  several  of  the  inhabitants, 
including  children  and  old  men.  Sixty-five  able- 
bodied  males  were  assembled  by  means  of  kicks 
and  blows  from  the  butts  of  rifles,  were  marched 
to  Morhange,  and  were  obliged  to  lie  down,  with 
their  faces  in  the  mud,  for  more  than  twelve  hours. 
If  one  of  these  poor  devils,  half  suffocated,  raised 
his  head  to  get  a  breath  of  fresh  air,  a  heavy  blow 
on  the  skull  from  a  gunstock  drove  it  back  into 
place.  Two  died,  and  one  lies  paralyzed.  The 
remainder  were  sent  to  Deux-Ponts,  where  they 
were  kept  in  prison  for  six  weeks,  living  on  bread 
and  water,  and  sleeping  on  rotten  straw.  A  few 
more  died ;  then  part  were  liberated  and  the  rest 
transferred  to  the  Palatinate,  where  they  were 
imprisoned  sixteen  months  longer.  After  the 
men  of  Dalheim  were  removed,  the  women  and 
children  were  stripped  naked,  and  turned  over  to 
the  mercy  of  the  German  soldiers,  who  hunted  their 
game  through  the  vineyards  all  night. 

The  German  official  documents  relating  to  these 
two  affairs  were  captured  in  the  town  hall  at 
Mulhouse  by  the  lawyer  Helmer,  when  the  French 
occupied  the  city  for  the  second  time. 

The  attitude  of  the  Alsatians  in  regard  to  mili- 
tary service  in  the  German  army  was  what  might 
have  been  expected  from  M.  Hallays'  account  of 


Introduction 


xxxv 


their  feelings  before  the  war.  Tens  of  thousands 
escaped  before  they  were  summoned ;  others  de- 
serted before  being  sent  to  the  front,  and  others 
would  probably  have  done  so  had  they  not  been 
promised  (often  falsely),  that  they  would  not  be 
required  to  serve  against  the  French. 

In  a  single  day  eighty  territorials  from  the 
regions  surrounding  Strasburg  were  arraigned  be- 
fore a  special  military  court  in  that  city  for  de- 
sertion and  treason.  On  a  single  day  the  public 
prosecutor  of  Mulhouse  ordered  the  arrest  of 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-three  men  of  a  single 
class,  that  of  1892,  to  answer  the  charge  of  deser- 
tion, and  also  confiscated  the  property  of  a  number 
of  other  men  charged  with  desertion  and  treason. 
Hundreds,  yes  thousands,  of  other  cases  are  re- 
ported in  German  papers  which  were  collected 
by  the  French  military  authorities ;  all  classes, 
all  trades,  and  all  professions  are  represented 
in  these  lists,  a  veritable  Alsatian  Roll  of  Honor, 
which  by  themselves  are  sufficient  to  prove  the 
persistence  of  French  sentiment  after  half  a  century 
of  German  occupation. 

The  Alsatians  who  were  sent  to  the  front  against 
the  French  often  refused  to  fire  on  men  whom  they 
regarded  as  their  brothers  in  blood,  and  of  course 
this  infraction  of  German  discipline  cost  them  their 
lives.    The  Abbe  Wetterle  has  told  of  a  young 


xxxvi 


Introduction 


Alsatian  from  Colmar  who  was  incorporated  in  a 
Saxon  regiment.  During  the  battle  of  the  Marne 
his  lieutenant  observed  that  he  was  firing  too  low. 
Though  warned,  he  persisted.  "Ah!  I  under- 
stand," cried  the  officer,  "you  Alsatian  dogs  are 
all  traitors.  It  is  high  time  to  make  an  example." 
He  emptied  his  revolver  into  the  sergeant's  brain, 
and  said  to  his  men,  "This  is  what  happens  to  the 
friends  of  the  French."  Soon  after  the  boy's 
father  received  this  letter : 

> 

"Monsieur,  your  son  died  because  of  his  love 
for  France.  Seriously  wounded  by  an  officer  who 
accused  him  of  sparing  the  French  opposite  us, 
he  survived  only  a  few  hours.  It  was  in  my  arms 
he  breathed  his  last,  after  the  consolations  of  re- 
ligion. Before  closing  his  eyes,  he  charged  me 
with  his  mission.  '  Please  write  my  father,'  he 
said,  'that  I  was  faithful  to  my  vow.  Not  a  drop 
of  French  blood  has  stained  my  hands,  and  I  have 
the  joy,  before  dying,  of  seeing  the  French  army 
rebound.'  He  paused  an  instant,  a  smile  ap- 
peared on  his  lips  and,  gathering  together  all  his 
strength,  he  cried,  'Vive  la  France!'" 

Thus  the  Alsatian  soldiers  were  a  dead  weight 
in  the  German  armies,  at  least  on  the  western 
front.  Even  if  they  did  not  desert  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy,  knowing  that  they  had  not  one  chance 
in  ten  of  getting  across  No  Man's  Land  alive, 


Introduction 


xxxvii 


and  that  they  were  abandoning  wives  and  children, 
fathers  and  mothers,  to  the  brutal  German  venge- 
ance, they  were  regarded  by  the  Germans  as  po- 
tential traitors.  Numerous  official  orders  for- 
bidding their  employment  in  responsible  positions, 
either  in  the  line  or  the  rear,  sufficiently  prove 
where  their  sympathies  were. 

The  Alsatian  civilians  who  remained  at  home 
were  no  less  suspected  and  oppressed  by  the 
Germans  than  those  in  the  zone  of  warfare  and 
in  the  army.  Brutality,  espionage,  convictions 
on  false  or  insufficient  evidence,  imprisonment, 
confiscation,  and  death  were  everyday  affairs. 
The  least  suspicion  of  French  sentiment  involved 
persecution.  Ten  years  of  hard  labor  for  waving 
a  white  handkerchief  at  the  sight  of  a  distant 
French  patrol;  four  months  for  singing  the 
Marseillaise ;  and  imprisonment  for  selling  goods 
bearing  French  labels,  even  though  these  were 
furnished  by  German  manufacturers,  are  only 
samples  of  thousands  of  punishments  imposed 
by  the  Germans.  Even  the  women  were  pun- 
ished for  singing  French  songs,  for  writing  letters 
to  their  friends  in  France,  and  for  throwing  kisses 
to  French  prisoners. 

"If  the  'schwobs'  are  victorious/ '  said  Valerie 
Fichter,  saleswoman  in  a  Mulhouse  store,  "their 
necks  will  stretch  so  with  pride  that  they  will  be 


xxxviii 


Introduction 


able  to  look  into  the  gutters  of  the  houses."  This 
pleasantry  cost  her  a  number  of  months  in  prison. 

Bismarck,  in  1871,  was  asked  how  he  would 
denationalize  Alsace.  He  said,  "We  will  take 
the  Alsatian  children  and  educate  them  in  the 
German  schools ;  we  will  take  their  young  men 
and  submit  them  to  the  discipline  of  our  great 
German  army."  The  result  was  exactly  the 
opposite  of  what  he  had  anticipated.  Neither 
school  nor  barrack  could  transform  a  real  Alsatian 
into  a  German.  We  have  seen  what  happened 
to  those  who  went  into  the  army.  The  school 
children,  as  well  as  the  soldiers,  were  haled  before 
the  courts-martial  because  of  their  pro-French 
or  anti-German  sentiments.  Their  youth  would 
have  given  a  reasonable  judge  warrant  for  leniency, 
but  even  the  irresponsibility  of  a  child  did  not 
prevent  him  from  receiving  pitiless  punishment. 
Four  months  of  prison  for  schoolboy  tricks ;  a 
year  in  jail  for  singing  the  "  Marseillaise  "  ;  a  fatal 
bayonet  stab  for  crying  "Vive  la  France,"  were 
some  of  the  punishments.  And  a  boy,  Th6ophile 
Jaegly,  was  executed  for  high  treason  because  he 
declared  that  his  village  was  free  from  French 
soldiers,  although  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  a 
French  detachment  was  ambushed  there. 

The  Imperial  military  authorities  published  in 
the  newspapers  the  proceedings  of  the  courts- 


Introduction 


xxxix 


martial  in  Alsace,  with  the  usual  German  inability 
to  understand  the  psychology  of  a  free  and  noble 
race.  They  expected  thus  to  intimidate  and 
terrorize  the  subject  population.  Eventually  they 
perceived  that  this  publicity  was  having  exactly 
the  opposite  effect  upon  the  Alsatians,  and  that 
they  were  giving  their  own  case  away  by  proving 
that  Alsace  was  not  as  thoroughly  German  as 
they  had  always  asserted.  The  publication  was 
discontinued  and  the  punishments  continued  to 
be  inflicted  in  secrecy.  Too  late,  the  records 
stand ! 

5jC  SjC  5j*  3^S  8^S 

A  bill  has  been  introduced  into  the  French 
Chamber  of  Deputies  proposing  the  institution 
of  a  Medal  of  French  Fidelity,  "To  be  bestowed 
upon  every  Alsatian  or  Lorrainer.  who,  between 
1870  and  1918,  was  fined,  imprisoned  or  exiled, 
for  words  or  deeds  denoting  attachment  to 
France."  It  is  also  proposed  that  the  name  of 
every  inhabitant  of  these  provinces  who  was 
executed  by  the  Germans  shall  be  placed  upon 
the  Roll  of  Honor  of  the  French  army,  and  that 
his  family  shall  be  given  the  pension  to  which  he 
would  have  been  entitled  if  he  had  been  a  French 
citizen  and  had  died  at  the  front. 

It  is  but  justice. 

*J»  *p>  *%*  ^* 


xl 


Introduction 


After  this  what  question  can  there  be  of  a 
plebiscite  ? 

The  Peace  Conference  will  find  none ;  the 
question  will  not  be  raised.  Alsace  has  spoken, 
not  only  by  the  voice  of  its  representatives,  but 
louder  yet  by  the  voice  of  the  people  themselves. 
The  date  was  November  22,  eleven  days  after  the 
armistice  was  signed,  the  day  when  Strasburg 
saw  her  hopes  fulfilled,  her  waiting  of  half  a  century 
rewarded.  Let  an  eye-witness,  Lieutenant  Emory 
Pottle,  writing  in  the  New  York  Times ,  tell  of  it. 

" There  is  but  one  splendor  in  war.  Out  of  all 
the  reek  and  sweat  and  blood  and  horror  and  hell 
of  it  there  is  but  one  surpassing,  tragically  beau- 
tiful instant.  The  instant  of  triumph.  Stras- 
burg awaited  the  entry  of  the  French.  And  the 
French  awaited  —  what  did  they  not  await ! 
Struggle  ended,  victory  accomplished,  sacrifice 
consecrated,  they  awaited  fulfillment.  After  fifty 
bitter  years  the  French  were  coming  back,  the 
conquerors,  to  their  own,  to  Alsace.  .  .  . 

"At  9.30,  over  all  the  rush  and  surge  and  shout 
of  innumerable  masses,  there  rang  a  high,  clear, 
brazen  fanfare.  Trumpets. at  the  gate  of  entry! 
They're  here!    The  French! 

"  Down  the  dense  expectant  lanes  of  people  gone 
mad  with  enthusiasm,  with  joy,  with  hope  come 
true,  they  rode,  the  French,  in  the  fine  panoply 


Introduction 


xli 


of  victory.  Gouraud,  the  beloved  General 
Gouraud  five  times  wounded,  his  right  arm  gone, 
at  their  head ;  Gouraud  who  became  a  soldier  in 
his  youth  because  of  an  Alsace  and  Lorraine  lost ; 
Gouraud  who  is  a  beautiful,  tattered,  consecrated, 
victorious,  worshiped  battle-flag  of  France.  Be- 
hind him  his  soldiers  —  his  enfants,  he  calls  them  — 
his  Moroccans,  his  poilus,  his  rugged  old  terri- 
torials. Faded  khaki,  faded  blue,  stained  with 
war  and  beautiful  with  triumph.  Heads  high, 
eyes  shining  through  tears,  faces  gentle  and  kind 
and  childlike.    The  famous  soldiers  of  France. 

"  Regiment  on  regiment  they  come  on  with  the 
rattle  and  rumble  of  artillery,  with  the  almost 
unbearable  crash  and  cry  and  flaunt  of  martial 
music  —  Sambre  el  Meuse,  and  over  their  heads 
the  hum  and  whir  of  the  airplanes.  The  human 
hedges  brilliant  with  banners  broke  at  sight  of 
them.  The  men  and  women  and  children  who 
but  a  day  or  two  ago  had  seen  with  unspeakable 
relief  the  sullen,  shamed  lines  of  Germans  defile 
through  these  very  streets  to  cross,  God  grant 
forever,  their  cherished  Rhine,  threw  themselves 
upon  their  liberators ;  arm  in  arm  girls  marched 
on  deliriously  with  the  troopers ;  old  women 
kissed  their  hands,  their  cheeks ;  men  with  sobs 
in  their  throats  threw  their  arms  about  them  as 
might  fathers  embrace  sons  come  home.  Stras- 


xlii 


Introduction 


burg  was  abloom  with  flung  flowers ;  the  bright 
morning  was  a  wonderful  wind-tossed  flag ;  the 
world  a  sudden  heart-breaking  glory. 

"  The  French  had  come  .  .  .  ! 

"They  march  on,  then,  the  French,  to  the  statue 
of  Kleber  in  the  Place  Kleber.  Every  city  has  its 
traditional  center.  Strasburg 's  is  there.  A  fine 
free  space  with  a  great  bronze  of  Napoleon's  Gen- 
eral Kleber  in  its  heart  (Kleber  was  tolerated  here 
by  the  Germans  who  chose,  as  they  so  insolently 
choose  with  many  things,  to  call  him  one  of  them), 
and  set  about  with  charming  buildings,  old  Alsa- 
tian, the  grace  of  Louis  Quinze  in  their  wall  lines 
and  sharp-pitched  roofs.  Here  General  Gouraud 
halted.  There  was  an  instant  of  rich  silence  as  the 
soldier  raised  his  sword  to  the  salute.  Then  cheers, 
and  cheers,  and  cheers  !  It  was  the  shout  of  flood  - 
tide,  of  seas  washing  up  to  immemorial  heights.  A 
poem  of  Browning's  —  I  have  forgotten  the  flow  of 
the  lines  —  comes  into  my  mind  as  I  write.  Some- 
thing of  roses  all  the  way  and  the  air  a  mist  of 
swaying  bells.  It  was  like  that,  Strasburg.  The 
air  was  a  mist  of  bells  and  fine  flags,  and  shouts 
and  tears  and  smiles  and  hearts  long  repressed  at 
last  open.  Gouraud  rode  away,  but  Strasburg 
danced  when  he  had  gone  at  the  foot  of  Kleber's 
statue,  and  Kleber  in  martial  bronze,  wreathed 
and  flowered,  seemed  to  live  again  and  smile. 


Introduction  xliii 


"How  Strasburg  danced  and  cheered  at  every 
turn.  We  dined  and  lunched  with  unknown  hosts, 
suddenly  become  friends.  We  were  kissed  and 
hugged  by  old  and  young.  The  dignified  streets 
broke  into  song.  The  1  Marseillaise ' !  Every- 
where the  ' Marseillaise.'  Once  they  had  the 
tune  it  was  enough.  The  words  seemed  to  come 
instinctively.  Le  jour  de  gloire  est  arrive!  Lads 
chirped  it,  whistled  it.  Girls  screamed  it  at  top- 
lung.  Old  men,  old  women  shouted  it  piously. 
The  day  of  glory  had  arrived  at  last.  There  stands 
in  the  heart  of  Strasburg  an  old  unassuming  house 
that  bears  a  garlanded  word  of  recall  to  those  who 
passing  glance  above  its  door  :  'La  "Marseillaise" 
jut  chantee  pour  la  premiere  fois  dans  cette  maison 
par  Rouget  de  Vlsle,  le  25  Avril,  1792.'  Small 
wonder,  then,  that  the  immortal  air  comes  famil- 
iarly and  full  from  the  Strasburgers'  throats  in 
the  city  where  first  it  was  sung, 

'Qu'un  sang  impur 
Abreuve  nos  sillons.'  .  .  . 

"  The  wild,  dancing,  wonderful  day  turned  into 
night.  Rosy  globes  of  paper  lanterns  shone  in 
windows.  Yellow  light,  rich  and  smiling,  flooded 
over  the  charming,  sauntering  crowds,  lit  the 
forests  of  beautiful  flags.    And  all  night  long 


xliv 


Introduction 


Strasburg  sang  the  1  Marseillaise. 1  Sang  it?  Was 
it,  so  it  seemed  to  me." ( 

*<sj>  9S0  Jm  «1«  *|y 

»J»  ^f* 

It  is  over. 

The  waiting,  the  griefs,  the  disappointed  hopes, 
broken  lives,  destroyed  families,  ruined  enter- 
prises, decaying  towns  and  cities,  all  have  been 
suffered ;  the  terrors,  the  tortures,  the  sacrifices 
of  war  have  been  gone  through ;  the  time  of  re- 
union has  come.  Alsace,  Lorraine,  are  wrecked 
and  bleeding ;  France  has  suffered  from  the  hor- 
rors of  war  as  no  nation  has  suffered  in  modern 
times,  but  the  Lost  Provinces  are  restored.  The 
Valley  of  the  Sarre  also  comes  back  to  France, 
for  half  a  generation  at  least,  forever  if  the  pleb- 
iscite shall  then  decide  it  so.  The  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine  is  to  be  neutral  and  occupied,  forever 
a  bulwark  against  new  German  invasion.  Here 
is  some  balm  for  French  wounds.  Let  us  hope 
that  France  and  Alsace  may  henceforth  receive 
naught  from  the  east  but  peace ! 

Frank  Roy  Fraprie. 


THE 

SPELL  OF  ALSACE 


i 


MULHOUSE 


HERE  are  towns  which  at  first  sight  im- 


part to  the  passerby  the  secret  of  their 


destiny.  The  aspect  of  their  streets,  of 
their  houses,  of  their  monuments,  the  colors  with 
which  they  are  painted,  the  plan  on  which  they  are 
laid  out,  tell  clearly  the  lives,  the  customs,  and  the 
souls  of  the  men  who  built  them  and  of  the  men  who 
inhabit  them.  But  manufacturing  cities  are  more 
close-mouthed.  The  smoke-wreaths  which  trail 
across  their  skies  give  things  a  dull  and  melancholy 
aspect.  The  necessities  of  industry,  alike  in  all 
countries,  efface  the  particular  characteristics  of 
these  towns,  which,  at  the  first  glance,  appear 
almost  alike.  To  discover  their  originality,  one 
must  go  below  appearances,  question  men,  and 
consult  history. 

Mulhouse  is  one  of  the  most  original  cities 
which  exist  in  Europe,  original  in  its  temperament, 


1 


2  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


its  history,  and  in  the  proud  and  laborious  spirit 
of  its  citizens.  All  this,  however,  does  not  appear 
at  first  glance  to  the  traveler,  who,  Baedeker  in 
hand,  visits  Mulhouse  between  two  trains. 

It  is  a  great  city,  active  but  sad.  Like  an  im- 
perceptible but  incessant  rain,  the  soot  of  its 
factories  drops  upon  its  roofs  of  dull  tiles,  upon 
the  pavements  of  its  streets,  upon  the  little  vege- 
table patches  of  the  workmen's  homes,  upon  the 
magnificent  flower-beds  which  decorate  the  gar- 
dens of  its  burghers. 

It  is  a  very  ancient  city,  but  one  which  has  pre- 
served few  traces  of  its  past :  a  few  towers ; 
several  bits  of  its  fourteenth-century  ramparts ; 
a  few  crooked  and  irregular  streets  ;  a  few  palaces 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  like  that  beautiful 
Loewenfels  house,  with  such  a  perfect  front,  with 
its  admirable  window  gratings.  .  .  .  This  would 
be  all,  if  something  of  ancient  Mulhouse  did  not 
still  live  in  the  Place  de  la  Reunion.  The  ca- 
pricious design  of  this  square  has  been  respected. 
The  Renaissance  Hotel  de  Ville  has  been  pre- 
served, with  its  high  roof  and  its  charming  stair- 
case, clinging  to  the  fagade  under  a  tiled  portico. 
A  Munich  " professor,"  a  man  of  great  knowledge, 
but  whose  taste  was  perhaps  too  Bavarian,  has 
restored  the  exterior  frescos.  Unfortunately,  half 
a  century  ago,  the  old  church  of  Saint  Etienne, 


Mulhouse 


3 


which  stood  on  one  side  of  the  square,  was  de- 
molished, and  in  its  place  has  been  built  a  new 
temple,  in  a  terribly  massive  Gothic  style.  Even 
today  they  are  destroying  old  gabled  houses  to 
replace  them  by  modern  buildings. 

To  have  that  vision  of  the  past,  without  which 
we  can  comprehend  nothing  of  the  present,  we 
must  enter  the  Council  Hall  of  the  H6tel  de  Ville. 
It  is  a  low  room,  embellished  with  a  magnificent 
coffered  ceiling.  Wide  windows  open  on  the 
square  and  their  old  stained  glass  commemorates 
the  alliances  of  Mulhouse  with  Berne,  Bale,  and 
Soleure,  and  later  with  France.  On  one  of  the 
walls  are  painted  the  escutcheons  of  the  cantons 
of  Switzerland  and  the  arms  of  the  burgomasters 
of  the  town  from  1347  to  1870.  On  the  opposite 
wall  are  placed  the  portraits  of  the  last  Alsatian 
mayors  of  Mulhouse :  they  are  all  decorated  with 
the  Legion  of  Honor.  At  the  far  end  of  the  hall, 
the  bust  of  Wilhelm  II.  On  the  table,  the  record 
of  the  sessions,  drawn  up  in  German  since  1887. 
(Note  1.) 

These  armorial  bearings,  these  images,  these 
portraits,  these  registers,  disclose  in  a  short 
epitome  the  whole  history  of  Mulhouse,  a  free 
city  of  the  Empire,  a  Swiss  canton,  a  French  city, 
a  German  city. 

This  history  is  affecting,  because,  through  so 


4 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


many  vicissitudes,  Mulhouse  has  remained  faith- 
ful to  its  love  of  independence.  The  town  was 
born  republican,  and  never  has  denied  its  tradition, 
in  good  or  in  evil  fortune,  in  poverty  or  in  wealth. 
Too  weak  to  defend  alone  its  own  existence,  it  has 
never  consented  to  an  alliance  which  might  jeop- 
ardize its  liberty. 

I  cannot  relate  the  whole  story  of  Mulhouse ;  a 
few  traits,  collected  from  different  periods  of 
its  history,  will  suffice  to  define  Mulhousian 
character. 

In  1293,  Adolph  of  Nassau,  successor  of  Rudolph 
of  Hapsburg,  who  had  declared  Mulhouse  a  free 
city  of  the  Empire,  granted  the  city  a  charter,  in 
which  are  enumerated  all  its  franchises  and  all  its 
privileges.  One  of  the  articles  of  this  charter 
formally  guarantees  the  inviolability  of  the  domi- 
cile :  a  citizen,  even  if  he  is  accused  of  murder, 
may  quietly  lock  himself  in  his  own  house  and 
answer  through  the  window  the  questions  of  the 
judge  seated  in  the  street ;  if  he  is  found  guilty, 
he  may  set  his  affairs  in  order  and  leave  the  town 
without  hindrance,  provided,  however,  that  he 
succeeds  in  escaping  the  private  vengeance  of  the 
friends  or  relations  of  his  victim.  .  .  .  Such  were 
the  first  institutions  of  Mulhouse. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  Montaigne 
travels  to  Italy ;  he  crosses  the  Vosges  and  passes 


Mulhouse 


5 


through  Mulhouse :  a  century  before,  the  town 
had  concluded  a  perpetual  alliance  with  the  Swiss 
cantons;  it  has  become  Protestant,  like  Bale,  its 
neighbor.  Montaigne's  secretary  makes  this  entry 
in  his  journal : 

"  Mulhouse.  —  A  beautiful  little  town  of 
Switzerland,  canton  of  Bale.  M.  de  Montaigne 
went  to  see  the  church ;  for  they  are  not  Catholics 
here.  He  found  it,  as  everywhere  in  this  country, 
in  good  order ;  for  there  has  been  almost  nothing 
changed,  save  the  altars  and  images  which  have 
been,  but  without  mutilation.  He  took  an 
infinite  pleasure  in  seeing  the  liberty  and  good 
policing  of  this  nation,  and  in  noticing  his  host  of 
the  ■  Bunch  of  Grapes'  (Note  2)  return  from  the 
Council  of  the  aforesaid  town,  and  from  a  magnif- 
icent gilded  palace,  where  he  had  presided,  to 
serve  his  guests  at  table;  and  a  man  without 
following  and  without  authority,  who  served 
drinks,  had  led  four  ensigncies  of  infantry  to  the 
service  of  the  King  under  the  Casemir  (Jean 
Casimir,  son  of  Louis,  Elector  and  Count  Palatine) 
in  France,  and  been  a  pensioner  of  the  King  at 
three  hundred  crowns  a  year,  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  The  which  lord  recited  to  him  at  table, 
without  ambition  or  affectation,  his  present  condi- 
tion and  his  past  life :  he  said,  among  other 
things,  that  they  find  no  difficulty,  because  of 


6  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


their  religion,  in  serving  the  King,  even  against 
the  Huguenots ;  which  several  others  told  us  also 
on  our  way;  and  that  at  our  siege  of  La  Fere 
there  were  more  than  fifty  from  this  city;  that 
they  marry  indifferently  women  of  our  religion 
before  the  priest,  and  do  not  force  them  to 
change.  .  . 

Every  word  should  be  emphasized,  in  these  few 
lines,  which  truly  paint  the  Mulhousian  of  afore- 
time and  of  today,  his  love  of  liberty,  as  well  as 
of  good  order,  his  simple  manners,  "without 
ambition  and  without  affectation,"  his  horror  of 
fanaticism,  his  taste  for  tolerance.  It  is  necessary 
to  add  to  these  qualities  a  deep  religious  sentiment, 
which  gives  to  actions  an  air  of  seriousness  and  to 
words  an  accent  of  gravity. 

In  1776,  business  on  a  large  scale  commenced 
to  develop  at  Mulhouse.  It  was  in  the  following 
terms  that  four  merchants  then  concluded  an 
agreement  of  association  to  found  a  factory  of 
calico  spinning,  weaving,  and  printing  : 

"In  the  Name  of  God,  Amen. 

"May  our  beginning,  our  middle,  and  our  end 
occur  in  the  name  of  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
to  whose  mercy  we  recommend  ourselves.  May 
the  Most  High  bless  our  enterprises,  for  his  glory, 
in  order  that  they  may  succeed  to  our  advantage, 


Mulhouse 


7 


according  to  his  holy  and  wise  views  for  time  and 
for  eternity.  Amen. 

"A  friendly  association  is  created  between  Paul 
Huguenin  junior,  Jean  Mantz,  Nicolas  Moser  and 
Daniel  Jelensperger,  under  the  firm  name  deter- 
mined by  drawing  by  lot,  of  Huguenin,  Mantz  et 
Cie.,  for  twenty  consecutive  years,  commencing 
with  the  grace  of  God,  January  1st,  1777,  and  end- 
ing January  1st,  expected  of  God,  in  the  year  1797, 
for  the  exploitation  of  a  factory  of  printed  calicos, 
of  a  cloth  weaveshop,  and  of  a  spinning  factory, 
and  that  under  the  following  conditions : 

"1.  When  the  funds  of  each  partner  shall  have 
reached  30,000  French  livres,  he  shall  not  be  per- 
mitted to  reduce  them  below  this  amount. 

11 2.  The  profits,  expected  of  God,  shall  be  di- 
vided into  four  equal  parts,  and  the  capital  of  each 
partner  shall  receive  a  sum  equal  to  that  of  the 
others. 

"3.  On  the  contrary,  and  may  God  prevent! 
if  there  is  a  loss  in  place  of  a  gain,  each  shall  sup- 
port a  part  of  it  equal  to  that  of  the  others. 

"4.  At  the  end  of  December  of  each  year,  an 
exact  inventory  shall  be  made,  and  in  the  case  of 
a  possible  profit,  one  shall  proceed  according  to 
§  2,  or  for  a  loss,  according  to  §  3.  .  .  . 

"Each  of  us  must  bring  all  his  abilities  to  the 
enterprise,  and,  according  to  his  means,  apply 


8  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


himself  to  make  it  prosper  and  endeavor  to  pre- 
sent losses,  sustain  the  other  in  his  affairs,  and, 
to  this  end,  communicate  to  him  faithfully  that  of 
which  he  is  ignorant,  and  conceal  nothing  from 
him,  of  whatever  nature  it  may  be." 

Mulhouse,  a  former  republic,  remained  repub- 
lican when  joined  to  France.  Of  the  persistence 
of  this  tradition  I  will  cite  only  one  example :  at 
the  plebiscite  of  December  20-21,  1851,  while 
France  ratified  the  coup  d'etat  by  a  vote  of  7,439,216 
Yes,  against  640,737  No,  the  vote  at  Mulhouse 
was  1800  No,  against  1683  Yes. 

It  seems  to  me  that  from  these  few  items  we  can 
reconstruct  the  characteristics  of  a  small  popu- 
lation, very  pious,  very  laborious,  very  republican, 
and  very  much  attached  to  its  franchises. 

Gifted  with  these  hereditary  qualities,  the  most 
talented  of  its  manufacturers  brought  enormous 
prosperity  to  Mulhouse. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
only  industry  by  which  Mulhouse  lived  was  that 
of  broadcloth  weaving.  But,  in  1745,  J.  J. 
Schmaltzer  proposed  to  the  merchant  Samuel 
Koechlin  and  to  the  painter  Jean  Henri  Dollfus 
to  associate  themselves  with  him  to  found  at 
Mulhouse  an  establishment  for  manufacturing 
printed  calicos.    In  the  following  year  the  firm  of 


Mulhouse 


9 


Koechlin,  Schmaltzer  et  Cie.  was  founded.  This 
was  the  dawn  of  the  great  industry  of  Mulhouse. 

To  protect  the  production  of  wool,  Louis  XIV 
had  forbidden  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  cotton 
cloth.  England  and  Prussia  had  followed  this 
example.  The  principal  factories  of  printed  calicos 
had  then  been  established  in  Switzerland  and  were 
most  frequently  managed  by  French  Protestants 
who  had  exiled  themselves  in  consequence  of  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Schmaltzer 
had  studied  the  processes  of  this  manufacture  at 
Bied,  near  Neuchatel,  in  one  of  the  factories 
started  by  Jacques  de  Luze,  a  Huguenot  who  had 
emigrated  from  Saintonge. 

The  firm  of  Koechlin,  Schmaltzer  et  Cie.  made 
great  profits.  Other  Mulhousians  followed  the 
example  set  by  their  three  compatriots.  The 
bankers  of  Bale  furnished  the  capital.  Skilled 
and  inventive  designers  gave  a  great  renown  to  the 
calicos  of  Mulhouse.  The  first  printings  had  been 
made  on  cloth  imported  from  Switzerland  or  by 
the  Compagnie  des  Indes,  but  weave-sheds  were 
soon  established  in  Mulhouse. 

Meanwhile  the  old  prohibitions  had  been  elim- 
inated in  France,  Prussia,  and  England.  French 
factories,  particularly  that  of  Oberkampf  at 
Jouy,  commenced  to  give  the  factories  in  Mul- 
house  severe   competition.    Strangled   by  the 


10  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


French  customs  duties,  these  could  no  longer  find 
a  market.  In  1798,  to  save  its  manufacturing, 
Mulhouse  sought  annexation  to  France. 

This  was  a  prodigious  success.  The  wars  of 
the  First  Empire  opened  to  the  Mulhousians  all 
the  markets  of  Europe,  while  the  blockade  of  the 
continent  delivered  them  from  English  compe- 
tition. Spinning,  weaving,  and  printing  mills 
multiplied.  To  the  spinning  of  print  cloths  was 
soon  added  the  production  of  muslins.  The  im- 
pulse given  under  the  Empire  continued  even  under 
the  Restoration. 

But,  about  1825,  the  manufacturers  of  Mulhouse 
began  to  recognize  that  this  fabulous  prosperity 
could  not  endure  in  a  new  Europe  unless  they 
worked  with  energy  to  perfect  their  machinery 
and  their  processes.  The  position  of  their  town 
was  unfavorable  :  it  was  distant  from  the  harbors 
through  which  were  imported  its  raw  materials ; 
distant  from  Paris,  the  principal  market  for  its 
products ;  distant  from  the  coal  fields,  which 
furnished  it  fuel.  The  Rhone-Rhine  canal  was 
not  finished ;  railroads  did  not  exist ;  trans- 
portation was  tedious  and  expensive.  It  became 
impossible  to  compete  with  Rouen  and  Man- 
chester. It  was  then  that  a  score  of  manufacturers 
joined  in  founding  the  Industrial  Society  of  Mul- 
house.   They  held  their  first  meetings  in  1826. 


Mulhouse 


11 


The  society  was  recognized  as  "of  public  utility" 
in  1832. 

At  first  they  intended  only  to  collect  all  the 
scientific,  commercial,  and  statistical  information 
which  would  aid  in  the  progress  of  manufacturing 
or  agriculture.  But  the  society  was  not  slow  in 
enlarging  the  field  of  its  activities;  it  founded 
schools,  museums,  and  clubs,  opened  laboratories, 
instituted  researches  and  publications.  It  has 
given  Mulhouse  almost  all  the  establishments 
and  institutions  which  are  its  glory. 

It  has  created  a  school  of  design  and  a  pro- 
fessional art  school,  endowed  a  school  of  chemistry, 
fostered  a  school  of  weaving  and  a  school  of 
spinning.  It  has  founded  a  museum  of  natural 
history,  geological  collections,  a  technological 
museum,  where  are  collected  the  raw  material  of 
different  trades,  and  an  industrial  museum,  where 
are  exhibited  specimens  of  printed  calico,  some 
coming  from  the  Indies,  others  from  different 
Alsatian  factories  as  far  back  as  the  first  attempts 
in  1746.  This  last  collection,  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order,  is  not  only  a  mine  of  materials  for 
the  designers,  but  what  a  collection  for  study  for 
those  who  desire  to  follow  the  changes  and  revivals 
of  taste  and  fashion ! 

What  best  reveals  the  great  intelligence  of  these 
rich  manufacturers  is  that  they  have  not  been 


1£  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


content  with  schools  or  museums  of  direct  and 
immediate  usefulness  in  the  development  of  their 
industry.  Looking  higher  and  farther,  they  have 
taken  care  to  form  popular  taste,  and  have  opened 
a  museum  of  fine  arts  which  from  year  to  year 
becomes  more  valuable,  and  which  already  con- 
tains some  admirable  masterpieces  by  Henner.  „ 
They  have,  above  all,  understood  that  civic  pride 
is  a  great  source  of  energy,  and  that  nothing  is 
better  fitted  to  awaken  such  feelings  than  knowl- 
edge of  the  past  and  the  sight  of  its  relics.  They 
have  made  archeological  collections ;  they  have 
founded  a  historical  museum,  where  they  have 
collected  furniture,  arms,  flags,  portraits,  play- 
things, wood  carvings,  medals,  porcelains,  glass, 
costumes,  all  the  adornments  of  the  public  and 
private  life  of  aforetime :  a  museum  where,  as  in 
the  old  Council  Hall  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  one 
feels  the  throbbing  of  the  ancient  heart  of  the 
little  republic.  Here,  fragments  of  bunting,  dis- 
colored banners,  bring  back  the  past ;  here  are  the 
banner  given  by  Julius  II  to  Oswald  de  Gams- 
hart,  Deputy  from  Mulhouse  in  1512,  which  gave 
plenary  indulgence  to  the  soldiers  who  fought 
beneath  its  folds;  the  banner  of  the  city,  made 
for  the  celebration  of  the  union  of  Mulhouse  with 
France  on  March  15,  1798;  the  banner  of 
the  Gymnastic  Society  "V  Union,"  founded  June 


CARVED  WOODEN  DOOR  FROM   MASSEVAUX,  MULHOUSE 

MUSEUM 


Mulhouse 


13 


1,  1869,  and  dissolved  July  1,  1878,  which  still 
bears  the  crape  which  displeased  the  German 
authorities  and  caused  the  suppression  of  the 
society. 

The  people  of  Mulhouse,  who  have  such  lively 
and  deep  feeling  for  the  interests  of  their  industry, 
are  at  the  same  time  worthy  men,  human,  gen- 
erous, conscious  of  their  responsibilities.  They 
have  created  numerous  institutions  of  helpfulness 
and  foresight  for  the  working  people  of  their 
factories.  It  was  at  Mulhouse  that  there  was 
conceived  and  realized  for  the  first  time  the  idea 
of  workmen's  suburbs ;  Jean  Dollfus,  in  1852, 
built  the  first  quarters  of  this  kind. 

I  traversed  the  immense  section  to  the  north 
of  the  city,  occupied  by  the  workmen's  suburbs, 
in  the  center  of  which  are  placed  the  schools,  the 
baths,  the  wash-house,  the  bakery,  and  the  com- 
munity ovens.  This  quarter  covers  thirty-two 
hectares  and  contains  1,243  houses,  each  with  its 
little  garden.  As  today  almost  all  manufacturing 
towns  possess  workmen's  quarters,  everybody 
knows  these  great  collections  of  little  uniform 
houses.  At  Mulhouse,  however,  their  aspect  is 
strikingly  less  dull  and  less  monotonous  than  usual. 
The  plan  of  this  artificial  quarter  has  a  monotonous 
regularity,  but  the  streets  have  an  air  of  life,  an 


14  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


appearance  of  diversity,  which  I  have  never  seen 
in  the  towns  of  Northern  France.  There  the 
long  rows  of  brick  cottages  pitilessly  aligned,  the 
scattered  gardens,  where  washing  hangs  above  the 
cabbage  patches,  express  an  infinite  sadness  and 
an  almost  tragic  ennui.  Here  the  gardens,  estab- 
lished for  a  generation,  are  well  furnished  with 
plants,  the  shrubs  have  grown,  the  fruit  trees  are 
in  full  bearing,  the  leaves  spread  out  above  the 
fences  over  the  streets.  Then  the  houses  are 
generally  painted ;  every  owner  has  colored  his 
home  to  his  own  taste ;  there  are  red  houses, 
blue  houses,  green  houses.  Some  of  the  tones 
conflict,  in  a  most  inartistic  manner.  But  this 
difference  in  coloring  serves  to  individualize  the 
home  and  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  little 
house-fronts. 

Nevertheless,  if  we  are  to  believe  various  writers 
the  type  of  workmen's  suburb  which  Jean  Dollfus 
imagined  must  soon  be  abandoned.  This  sort  of 
housing  was  invented  with  the  idea  that  the  work- 
man, by  paying  a  little  higher  rent,  might  become 
the  proprietor  of  his  cottage  and  its  little  garden. 
This  idea  was  at  first  successful.  But  the  land 
on  which  this  suburb  was  built  fifty  years  ago 
has  today  become  extremely  valuable :  many  of 
the  houses  no  longer  belong  to  the  workmen,  but 
have  passed  into  the  hands  of  retail  shopkeepers ; 


Mulhouse 


15 


they  have  been  raised  a  story,  and  are  rented 
for  profit.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  become 
evident  that  many  workmen  have  no  taste  for 
gardening,  and  that  others  are  insensible  to  the 
joys  of  ownership.  Finally  it  has  been  asked  if  it 
is  to  the  best  interests  of  society  thus  to  isolate  all 
the  workmen  in  a  single  quarter,  apart  from  the 
commerce  and  wealth  of  the  town. 

As  soon  as  these  doubts  were  raised,  —  here  is  a 
characteristic  example  of  the  ways  of  Mulhouse,  — 
there  appeared  a  man  of  property,  M.  Lalance, 
who  advanced  to  the  Industrial  Society  the  neces- 
sary sum  to  try  an  experiment  and  create  a  new 
type  of  workmen's  dwellings.  A  piece  of  land  in 
the  center  of  the  town  was  purchased,  and  there, 
under  the  direction  of  M.  de  Glehn,  was  built  a 
structure  of  three  brick  wings,  each  three  stories 
high,  surrounding  a  large  common  court.  Each 
floor  contains  one  or  two  small  apartments,  simply 
arranged,  but  light  and  airy,  hygienically  planned 
and  rented  at  low  prices.  These  apartments  were 
immediately  leased. 

If  I  mention  these  facts,  it  is  not  because  I  desire 
to  exhaust  a  subject  on  which  I  possess  little 
information,  and  I  must  refer  economists  to  the 
report  presented  by  M.  de  Glehn  to  the  Industrial 
Society  on  June  24,  1903.  But  I  desire  to  demon- 
strate by  a  recent  example  that  Mulhouse  is  still 


16  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


animated  by  the  old-time  spirit  of  enterprise  and 
generosity. 

It  was  these  men,  jealous  of  their  past,  jealous 
of  their  independence,  jealous  of  their  industrial 
supremacy,  jealous  of  the  institutions  which  they 
had  created,  whom  Germany  has  treated  for 
thirty- three  years  like  a  captive  tribe.  If  German 
sovereignty  continues  to  be  odious  to  all  the  people 
of  Alsace,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  should  be 
particularly  intolerable  to  those  of  Mulhouse.  In 
1798,  they  had  voluntarily  given  themselves  to 
France  ;  they  had  freely  chosen  the  country  which, 
in  their  belief,  was  most  sympathetic  to  the  tradi- 
tional ideals  of  their  free  city.  So,  nowhere  was 
the  protestation  more  ardent  and  more  persistent 
than  at  Mulhouse. 

Even  today  nothing  is  changed.  Every  heart  is 
still  faithful  to  the  Republic. 

For  long  years  the  manufactures  of  Mulhouse 
exhausted  their  resources  in  heroic  sacrifices  to 
avoid  commercial  relations  with  Germany.  But 
one  must  live.  "One  must  live";  with  what 
accents  of  poignant  melancholy  have  I  heard 
these  words  repeated  everywhere  in  Alsace !  One 
must  live :  the  French  market  was  insufficient, 
and  between  were  a  frontier  and  custom  houses. 
They  resigned  themselves  to  seek  trade  in  Ger- 


Mulhouse 


17 


many.  But  the  industry  remained  Mulhousian 
in  its  directors,  its  workmen,  and  its  capital. 
The  entire  population  remains  attached  to  the 
traditions  of  centuries.  Each  year,  on  the  Four- 
teenth of  July,  the  railway  station  at  Mulhouse 
sells  the  same  number  of  return-tickets  for  Belfort. 

When  one  talks  with  old  men  in  Mulhouse,  one 
finds  among  them  no  trace  of  weariness  or  dis- 
couragement ;  they  do  not  doubt  the  fidelity  of  the 
younger  generations.  What  worries  them  in  the 
future  of  their  town  is  not  the  fear  of  seeing  courage 
weaken.  But  too  many  Mulhousians,  and  those 
among  the  best,  have  left  Alsace,  and  have 
voluntarily  shut  themselves  out  of  their  country0 
Are  men,  then,  going  to  be  lacking  to  keep  up  the 
work  of  the  ancestors?  Those  who  have  stayed 
do  not  blame  those  who  have  left ;  perhaps  they 
envy  them.  But  they  think  sadly  of  the  dangers 
which  the  old  city  undergoes  with  a  decimated 
population. 


c 


i 


II 


ENSISHEIM.  —  ROUFFACH.  —  ISSENHEIM. 
GUEBWILLER.  —  MURBACH 

ENSISHEIM.  —  From  the  Rhine  to  the 
foothills  of  the  Vosges  stretches  the  great 
plain  of  Alsace,  furrowed  and  fertilized  by 
the  tributaries  of  the  111.  Endless  rows  of  trees, 
silhouetted  against  the  horizon,  show  the  location 
of  the  highways.  The  lazy  waters  of  the  canals 
glide  between  low  and  grassy  banks.  Through 
the  meadows,  bright  with  poppies  and  cornflowers, 
the  storks  slowly  promenade  like  sentinels.  In 
the  east  and  the  west,  through  the  summer  haze, 
are  faintly  visible  the  ghosts  of  mountains. 

Ensisheim  is  a  little  town  in  the  midst  of  this 
fertile  plain,  between  Mulhouse  and  Colmar.  The 
moats  and  walls  of  former  days  have  disappeared. 
It  is  now  surrounded  with  orchards  and  woods, 
around  which  ripple  the  waves  of  the  ripening 
grain.  It  smiles  the  silent  smile  of  tiny  cities, 
old  and  rich,  which  possess  memories,  gardens, 
and  well-cultivated  fields.  It  has  fine  carvings 
on  the  doors  of  its  mansions.    Before  its  charming 

18 


Ensisheim 


19 


hostelry,  dating  from  the  sixteenth  century,  still 
swings  a  lovely  sign  of  beaten  iron:  "At  the 
Crown";  and  here  were  the  headquarters  of 
Turenne  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Turckheim.  A 
great  Jesuit  college  is  today  turned  into  a  prison, 
and  from  its  circular  driveway  the  German  sen- 
tinel contemplates  Turenne's  hostelry.  The  Hotel 
de  Ville  is  a  charming''  monument  of  the  Renais- 
sance. Its  great  hall  where,  after  the  Peace  of 
Westphalia,  sat  the  Sovereign  Council  of  Alsace, 
possesses  a  balcony  of  rare  elegance.  This  hall 
was  restored  twenty  years  ago.  But  the  custodian 
allows  me  time  neither  to  admire  the  balcony  nor 
to  curse  the  restorers.  I  must  marvel  at  the 
wonder  of  Ensisheim,  a  meteorite  which  fell  near 
here  in  1492.  His  pained  surprise  is  a  mute  re- 
proach because  I  evidently  do  not  appreciate  the 
importance  of  this  phenomenon  of  which,  for  four 
centuries,  every  traveler  has  desired  to  obtain  a 
bit,  so  that  by  now  its  weight  has  diminished  to  the 
extent  of  eighty  kilograms.  Finally,  I  am  asked  to 
meditate  over  this  inscription,  with  which  a  good 
Latinist  was  inspired  by  the  uncertainty  of 
science :  De  hoc  lapide  multi  multa,  omnes  aliquid, 
nemo  satis.    Oh  !  yes !  satis  ! 

Rouffach.  —  Here  ends  the  plain.  Behind 
Rouffach  rise  the  first  hills,  planted  with  vine- 


20  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


yards  and,  upon  the  summit  of  the  ridge,  appear 
the  remnants  of  the  castle  of  Isenbourg. 

Behold  the  most  perfect  of  Alsatian  landscapes  : 
a  beautiful  church  of  red  sandstone,  the  irregular 
gables  of  a  little  town,  vines  straggling  up  the 
hill,  and,  on  the  highest  summit,  the  feudal  ruin. 
Add  to  that,  to  complete  the  picture,  in  one  of  the 
streets  of  the  town,  the  birthplace  of  a  general  of 
Napoleon ;  Rouffach  was  the  home  of  Lefebvre, 
who  took  Dantzig,  the  same  Dantzig  which  was 
later  to  be  defended  by  Rapp,  born  at  Colmar. 

The  church  of  Saint  Arbogast  of  Rouffach  is  an 
admirable  monument  which  vandals  have  dis- 
figured a  little :  the  Revolution  there  celebrated 
the  Cult  of  Reason  and  profited  by  the  occasion 
to  annihilate  numerous  " vestiges  of  superstition"  ; 
however,  it  broke  neither  all  the  capitals  of  the 
nave  nor  all  the  sculptures  of  the  apse.  Finally 
came  the  restorers,  who  rebuilt  much,  but  who  at 
least  consented  to  respect  the  two  unfinished 
towers  of  the  church.  These  two  unequal  towers 
are  now  a  part  of  the  strange  beauty  of  Saint 
Arbogast. 

In  the  interior  I  received  for  the  first  time  a  very 
pleasing  impression,  which  I  was  afterward  to 
experience  in  all  the  churches  of  Alsace,  and  even 
in  the  cathedral  of  Strasburg.  These  churches 
retained  the  decorations  which  had  been  put  in 


Issenheim 


21 


place  for  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi.  Every  pillar 
was  surrounded  with  young  firs,  which  gave  out  a 
sylvan  and  penetrating  odor.  The  church  savored 
of  the  forest.  This  perfume  made  the  shadow  of 
the  stone  vaults  cooler  and  more  mysterious. 
And  these  trees  harmonized  so  perfectly  with  the 
architecture  of  red  sandstone !  What  fine  har- 
monies of  color  in  the  half  light  from  the  pointed 
windows  of  the  nave ! 

Issenheim.  —  In  the  village  of  Issenheim  stood, 
before  the  Revolution,  the  great  and  rich  convent 
of  the  Antonites,  the  relics  of  which  are  today  the 
most  precious  treasure  of  the  museum  of  Colmar. 
Not  one  stone  of  it  stands  on  another.  I  was 
shown  in  the  cloister  of  Unterlinden  at  Colmar 
several  very  beautiful  fragments  of  sculpture, 
which  testify  to 1  the  magnificence  of  the  Roman- 
esque church,  razed  more  than  a  century  ago.  .  .  . 
So  it  was  not  curiosity  to  know  the  field  "  where 
once  was  Troy,"  which  led  me  to  Issenheim. 
This  village,  through  the  whim  of  a  man  of  taste, 
has  become  celebrated  a  second  time  in  the  history 
of  art.  Here  dwells  M.  Georges  Spetz,  whose 
precious  collection  is  today  one  of  the  glories  of 
Alsace. 

The  word  collection  is  not  the  one  to  be  used  in 
this  place.    On  leaving  the  marvelous  and  charm- 


22  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


ing  home  where  I  had  been  received  with  so  much 
grace  and  kindness,  I  carried  away  in  my  memory 
not  only  the  image  of  beautiful  works  of  art,  but 
also  the  unforgetable  remembrance  of  one  of  those 
rare  days  where  all  is  in  accord  to  move  us  to  the 
depths  of  the  soul :  nature,  art,  the  spectacle  of 
the  living,  and  the  voice  of  the  dead.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  day  that  I  had  plucked  the  flower  of 
Alsace. 

Nothing  less  resembles  a  museum  than  the  home 
of  M.  Spetz.  Two  salons,  decorated  and  furnished 
in  the  taste  of  the  eighteenth  century,  are  vivified 
by  rare  porcelains  and  fine  statuettes  scattered 
about  on  antique  consoles.  On  the  walls  are 
hung  a  few  charming  portraits,  showing,  in  their 
costumes  of  aforetime,  the  parents  and  the  great- 
grandparents  of  the  master  of  the  household. 
From  these  open  two  halls  filled  with  furniture, 
paintings,  and  sculpture  of  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries.  In  this  harmonious  arrange- 
ment, where  the  place  of  each  object  has  been 
thought  out  and  determined  with  care,  how  far 
we  are  from  the  dull  and  heavy  bric-a-brac  of 
public  or  private  galleries !  Delicious  effects  of 
light  brighten  the  severity  of  the  old  oak.  The 
whole  collection  is  illuminated  by  the  brilliant 
rays  and  reflections  of  stained  glass,  copper, 
gilded  frames.    All  combine  to  form  the  most 


Issenheim 


23 


perfect  and  most  delicate  of  pictures,  and  this 
spectacle  has  so  much  grace  and  beauty  that  we 
linger  to  savor  the  special  charm  of  every  object. 

Besides,  the  place  is  intimate,  familiar,  and 
cordial.  Here  we  breathe  life;  we  divine  the 
continual  presence  of  the  master.  The  old  arm- 
chairs are  hospitable.  The  masterpieces  seem  to 
be  arranged  not  to  solicit  admiration,  but  to 
awaken  reverie. 

I  cannot  dream,  after  a  visit  of  a  few  hours  only, 
of  describing  the  objects  which  M.  Spetz  has 
collected  for  the  adornment  of  his  house.  All, 
or  almost  all,  date  from  the  Renaissance.  Some 
were  brought  from  Italy,  such  as  a  beautiful 
Sienese  Madonna,  and  a  magnificent  prie-dieu  of 
the  fifteenth  century;  others  from  France,  in- 
cluding magnificent  Burgundian  furniture  from 
Sambin,  a  statue  of  Saint  George,  an  exquisite 
statuette  of  a  kneeling  Virgin,  which  came  from 
the  church  of  Abbeville;  still  others  from  Ger- 
many. But  what  characterizes  this  collection, 
what  makes  its  seductive  originality,  is  that  it  is 
before  all  and  above  all  an  Alsatian  collection. 
M.  Spetz  is  enthusiastic  in  collecting  the  treasures 
of  his  native  country. 

He  has  piously  collected  the  relics  of  Alsace, 
and  among  them  are  some  admirable  specimens. 
A  very  beautiful  Martyrdom  of  Saint  Marguerite 


24  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


by  Schongauer  belonged  to  the  convent  of  Unter- 
linden  at  Colmar.  A  group  of  the  Virgin,  the 
Infant  Jesus,  and  Saint  Anna,  painted  in  a  popular 
style  and  representing  with  touching  realism  two 
Alsatian  peasant  women,  once  ornamented  the 
church  of  the  Recollects  at  Rouffach.  This 
charming  painted  glass  decorated  one  of  the 
windows  of  the  church  of  Gueb wilier.  These 
porcelains  came  from  the  factories  of  Strasburg. 
These  magnificent  carved  chests  were  found  among 
the  Alsatian  peasant  homes.  This  fine  and  grace- 
ful sanctuary  lamp  in  wrought  iron  was  suspended 
from  the  vault  of  the  church  of  Roedersheim. 
Finally,  here  are  some  pieces  which  came  from  that 
convent  of  Antonites  at  Issenheim,  which  formerly 
stood  three  hundred  paces  from  here :  a  mag- 
nificent porcelain  stove  in  Louis  XV  style,  a  great 
wooden  statue  representing  the  Emperor  Saint 
Henry,  and  another  wooden  statue  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  Virgin  carrying  Jesus.  This  last  is 
singularly  elegant.  The  sumptuous  and  com- 
plicated folds  of  the  robe,  the  grace  of  counte- 
nance, the  fineness  of  the  hands,  something  in- 
explicable of  spirituality  and  freedom  in  the 
movement,  all  seem  at  the  first  glance  to  deny  the 
date  which  is  usually  assigned  to  this  sculpture. 
To  judge  by  this  charming  half -smile,  these  over- 
worked draperies,  one  would  almost  be  tempted  to 


Issenheim 


25 


recognize  the  hand  of  a  statuary  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Brief  illusion :  all  the  details  of  the 
workmanship  protest  against  such  a  conjecture. 
Nevertheless,  the  Virgin  of  the  Spetz  collection 
remains  a  unique  piece.  In  the  engravings  signed 
by  Schongauer,  or  in  the  paintings  attributed  to 
him,  one  never  sees  anything  as  seducing,  as 
feminine,  as  captivating  as  the  face  of  this  charm- 
ing Madonna. 

While  contemplating  these  treasures  of  old 
Alsace,  I  cannot  keep  from  thinking  of  Alsace  of 
today.  I  have  it  under  my  eyes  in  this  beautiful 
house.  I  listen  to  and  look  at  the  noble  and  simple 
man  who  does  me  its  honors.  I  admire  the  delicate 
taste  with  which  he  has  ordered  everything  in  his 
home,  without  pedantry  or  ostentation,  with  the 
sovereign  grace  of  the  born  artist.  I  listen  to  the 
accent  of  restrained  tenderness  with  which  he 
speaks  to  me  of  the  past  of  his  country  and  his 
family.  I  stop  before  the  portrait  of  his  great- 
grandfather, in  the  costume  of  a  postmaster,  with 
silver  buttons  engraved  with  the  fleur-de-lis.  .  .  . 
Then,  through  the  windows  of  the  salon  I  see  the 
great  garden,  its  greensward,  its  finely  sanded 
paths,  its  trembling  poplars,  and  —  like  a  structure 
in  a  park  of  ancient  days  —  an  old  Alsatian  well 
with  its  uprights  of  sculptured  stone.  .  .  . 
Among  all  these  things  there  exists  a  profound  and 


26  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


subtle  harmony ;  the  Alsace  of  today  is  indeed  the 
Alsace  of  yesterday,  the  Alsace  of  forever. 

Guebwillek.  —  Since  the  French  Revolution, 
Guebwiller  has  become  one  of  the  principal 
centers  of  Alsatian  industry.  Everywhere  there 
arise,  on  the  banks  of  the  Lauch,  factories  and 
rows  of  workmen's  homes.  But,  before  1789, 
the  vine  growers  of  Guebwiller  held  their  lands 
of  the  great  Abbey  of  Murbach,  with  which  they 
were  continually  quarreling.  The  town  was  thus 
formerly  a  town  of  monks.  Three  beautiful 
churches  still  attest  this  past. 

The  Dominican  Church  of  Guebwiller  was  built 
in  the  fourteenth  century  on  the  same  plan  as  that 
of  the  Dominicans  of  Colmar.  It  has  a  triple 
nave  sustained  by  high  columns  without  capitals, 
a  style  whose  sad  and  naked  aspect  is  disconcerting 
to  our  eyes.  Of  the  church  of  Colmar  they  had 
made  a  market ;  they  have  treated  that  of 
Guebwiller  in  the  same  fashion.  The  first  has 
nevertheless  been  returned  to  its  proper  use; 
but,  when  we  see  what  modern  architects  have 
done  to  it,  we  hope  that  the  latter  will  remain 
forever  in  the  possession  of  the  sellers  of  vegeta- 
bles and  fish.  At  Guebwiller  all  the  walls  were 
painted,  and  it  is  lamentable  that  these  frescos 
were  allowed  to  perish.    Now  the  damage  is 


Guebwiller 


27 


irreparable.  While  there  still  remain  some  traces 
of  these  paintings,  they  will  soon  disappear;  no 
one  is  interested  in  their  preservation. 

The  church  of  Saint  Leger  has  coarse  sculptures, 
stern  and  energetic :  it  has  three  towers ;  one, 
octagonal,  dominates  the  crossing  of  the  nave ; 
the  other  two,  square,  flank  the  fagade.  Within, 
the  pillars  are  separated  by  very  pointed  arches : 
this  would  be  a  perfect  example  of  the  Alsatian 
Romanesque  if  there  had  not,  much  later,  been 
added  to  the  edifice  two  lateral  naves  of  pure 
Gothic  style.  They  destroy  the  primitive  plan 
by  disproportionately  enlarging  the  building. 
And  yet,  how  we  must  thank  the  restorers  for  not 
having  tried  to  correct  this  error !  All  that  time 
or  even  chance  adds  to  monuments  must  be 
respected.  Would  it  not  be  impious  to  drive 
away  the  storks  which  have  nested  on  the  top  of 
the  tower  of  Saint  Leger?  Yet  who  would  say 
that  the  builders  of  the  church  had  foreseen  in 
their  plans  this  strange  form  of  decoration  ? 

The  third  church  of  Guebwiller  was  constructed 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  the  Prince 
Abbot  of  Murbach,  Casimir  de  Rathsamhausen. 
The  abbey  had  just  been  secularized  by  a  bull  of 
Clement  XII.  The  chapter  had  fixed  its  residence 
at  Guebwiller  under  the  singular  title  of  Insigne 
College  Equestral,  and  had  moved  its  marvelous 


28  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


library  thither.  The  new  church  was  begun  in 
1766,  and  solemnly  dedicated  nineteen  years 
later.  It  is  a  vast  monument  of  the  so-called 
Jesuit  style,  but  sober  in  decoration  and  majestic 
in  appearance.  The  colonnades  of  the  front  are 
elegant.  The  design  of  the  interior  is  bold  and 
grand.  I  have  before  me  a  pamphlet  written  in 
1843  to  urge  the  Alsatians  to  repair  and  complete 
the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Guebwiller,  and  I  read 
there:  " There  exists  in  Alsace  a  monument 
which  can  be  regarded  as  a  masterpiece  of  modern 
architecture,  and  which  lacks  only  a  few  stones  to 
be,  along  with  the  marvelous  basilica  of  Strasburg, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  religious  edifices  of 
France.  It  is  the  new  parish  church  of  Gueb- 
willer." The  comparison  is  assuredly  difficult  for 
the  new  parish  church  of  Guebwiller ;  the  names 
of  Benque  of  Besangon,  and  of  Bitter  of  Gueb- 
willer, will  never  attain  the  popularity  of  the 
name  of  Erwin  of  Steinbach;  and  it  is  cruel  to 
recall  to  us  the  statues  of  the  portal  of  Strasburg 
when  viewing  the  contorted  and  frozen  allegories 
which  decorate  the  fagade  of  Guebwiller.  How- 
ever, before  the  beautiful  architecture  of  this 
Greco-Roman  church,  we  must  forget  the  disdain 
for  its  style  which  our  fathers  felt  because  of  their 
disgust  for  academicism  and  their  joy  in  the  re- 
discovered Middle  Ages.    How  much  there  still 


Guebwiller 


29 


was  of  grandeur,  grace,  and  harmony  in  the  reli- 
gious edifices  of  the  eighteenth  century ! 

At  the  back  of  the  choir  rises  a  grand  Gloria, 
the  work  of  a  German  sculptor  who  lived  at 
Guebwiller :  a  cloud  escaping  from  a  tomb  bears 
up  a  triumphant  Virgin,  in  the  midst  of  the  winged 
choir  of  Principalities,  Dominations,  and  Thrones ; 
an  angel  of  the  Dominations  heads  the  celestial 
troop;  he  wears  a  cuirass  and  a  baldrick,  and 
brandishes  his  baton  as  if  he  wished  to  throw  it  into 
the  midst  of  the  melee ;  and  he  is  charming,  this 
young  marshal  of  the  angels,  springing  forward  in 
the  midst  of  clouds  and  palms,  chivalrous  and 
pompous  as  a  hero  of  tragedy. 

Here  are  three  churches  which  do  not  in  the 
least  resemble  each  other;  and  thus,  without 
leaving  home,  the  people  of  Guebwiller  can  study 
the  vicissitudes  of  Christian  art.  But  one  thought 
is  borne  in  upon  the  traveler :  none  of  these 
churches  is  like  edifices  of  the  same  style  con- 
structed at  the  same  time  in  other  countries. 
The  center  of  France  is  rich  in  Romanesque 
churches;  Dominican  churches  abound  in  the 
south;  in  the  eighteenth  century  Greco-Roman 
churches  were  built  everywhere.  And  yet,  when 
we  stand  before  Alsatian  churches,  we  never 
have  the  feeling  of  having  seen  them  elsewhere. 
Without  doubt  archeologists  would  discover  pecul- 


30  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


iarities  of  plan  or  decoration  which  would  justify 
our  surprise.  But  the  grand,  the  true  originality 
of  Alsatian  architecture  in  all  periods  is  its  fiery 
color.  The  red  sandstone  of  the  Vosges  gives  each 
of  these  monuments  a  unique  accent. 

Murbach.  —  The  valley  of  the  Lauch,  above 
Gueb wilier,  is  called  by  a  charming  name.  It  is 
the  Florival. 

Industry  has  not  yet  stolen  all  its  grace  from 
this  delicious  valley.  On  the  left  bank  of  the 
little  river  undulate  the  famous  hillsides  where  are 
harvested  well-known  wines,  "  among  which  is 
especially  distinguished  the  white  wine  called 
Olber,  which  unites  to  a  delicious  bouquet,  known 
under  the  name  of  Eschgriesler,  the  virtue  of 
opposing  the  formation  of  the  gravel,  and  even 
sometimes  of  curing  this  sad  malady."  (Note  3.) 
On  the  other  bank,  hills  covered  with  forests  rise 
in  steep  slopes.  In  the  bed  of  the  valley,  wherever 
the  factories  allow  it,  there  still  stretch  flowery 
meadows. 

Buhl :  a  pretty  new  church  on  a  scarped  bluff, 
in  the  midst  of  the  light  green  foliage  of 
walnuts.  .  .  . 

Then  we  dip  into  a  little  valley  which  opens  into 
the  Florival  near  the  village ;  we  skirt  a  great 
dried-up  pool;  a  brook  babbles  under  the  trees; 


THE  ABBEY  OF  MURBACH 


Murbach 


31 


we  pass  under  a  large  gateway,  and  suddenly  we 
discover  before  us  the  two  towers  of  a  great  church 
in  Vosgian  red  sandstone,  rising  in  the  midst  of  the 
forest.  We  cannot  forget  the  sudden  vision  of 
this  grand  mass  rising,  all  glowing,  among  the 
clumps  of  woods  which  dot  the  narrow  valley. 
It  is  Murbach ;  at  least,  it  is  all  which  exists  of  the 
Abbey  of  Murbach,  one  of  the  most  ancient  and 
most  powerful  in  Alsace. 

Of  the  monastery  there  remain  only  a  gate, 
some  foundations,  some  vaults.  The  nave  of 
the  church  has  been  demolished.  The  apse,  the 
transept,  and  the  two  bell  towers  have  been  re- 
paired, and  alone  remain  standing  to  attest  the 
former  glory  of  Murbach.  They  are  in  the  most 
beautiful,  the  most  pure,  the  most  imposing, 
Romanesque  style. 

The  interior  of  the  edifice  is  almost  bare.  We 
still  see  there  the  tomb  of  a  count  ofEguisheim; 
the  recumbent  figure  has  fine  features,  round 
and  cordial,  honest  and  frank,  a  true  Alsatian 
face.  In  the  other  arm  of  the  transept  is  pre- 
served a  cenotaph,  dedicated  in  the  eighteenth 
century  to  the  memory  of  seven  monks  of 
Murbach,  massacred  in  929  by  the  barbarian 
Huns.  The  rest  of  the  building  is  like  a  village 
church. 

We  must  climb  the  impossibly  flowery  slope 


m  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


of  the  neighboring  mountain,  stop  at  the  first 
firs,  and  from  there  contemplate  the  old  basilica, 
mutilated,  but  still,  in  spite  of  this,  sovereign  of 
the  valley.  In  the  midst  of  nature,  which  is  now 
slowly  reconquering  the  domain  of  the  monks  of 
yesteryear,  it  appears  so  royally  dominant,  so 
superbly  tutelar,  that  it  suffices  to  evoke  the  past 
grandeur  of  Murbach.  One  thinks  of  Chateau- 
briand, and  of  those  sublime  phrases  with  which 
Montalembert  was  inspired:  "A  voice  of  glory 
and  of  wonder  arose  from  the  depths  of  the  most 
frightful  solitudes.  .  .  .  The  fertile  plains  became 
a  prey  to  savages  who  knew  not  how  to  cultivate 
them,  while  on  the  arid  crests  of  the  mountains 
dwelt  another  world,  which,  among  these  pre- 
cipitous rocks,  had  saved,  as  from  a  deluge,  the 
remains  of  the  arts  and  of  civilization.  But  even 
as  the  fountains  descend  from  the  elevated  places 
to  fertilize  the  valleys,  so  the  first  anchorites 
descended  little  by  little  from  their  lofty  seats  to 
bear  to  the  barbarian  the  word  of  God  and  the 
gentlenesses  of  life."  Murbach  and  the  other 
monasteries  of  Alsace  were  the  advance  guards  of 
civilization.  On  more  than  one  occasion  they 
barely  escaped  being  destroyed  by  return  offensives 
of  barbarism,  coming  from  the  Orient.  But  they 
became  accustomed  to  repelling  force  by  force. 
Around  Murbach  all  the  hill-crests  are  still  crowned 


Murbach 


33 


by  the  ruins  of  the  fortresses  which  the  monks 
built  to  defend  their  convent. 

These  two  towers,  high  and  stout,  are  there  as 
the  indestructible  emblems  of  the  pride  of  the 
ancient  monastery  now  vanished,  noble  and 
illustrious  among  all  the  abbeys  of  Christendom : 
for  its  abbot,  a  prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
owed  allegiance  only  to  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor, 
and  no  one  could  become  a  monk  there  unless  he 
proved  sixteen  quarters  of  nobility  and  furnished 
the  surety  of  seven  knights  attesting  his  honor  on 
the  Holy  Gospel. 

The  sun  declines,  and,  before  it  disappears 
behind  the  mountain  which  is  already  in  shadow, 
illuminates  the  towers  of  Murbach.  We  must 
again  take  the  road  through  Florival,  whose 
heights  now,  in  the  gloaming,  are  silhouetted 
against  the  brilliant  sky  in  graceful  curves.  .  .  . 

The  night  has  come  when  I  reach  Lautenbach. 
Another  marvelous  Romanesque  church  in  Vos- 
gian  sandstone :  one  would  say  that  through  the 
gathering  darkness  it  still  holds  the  reflections  of 
the  setting  sun. 


Ill 

COLMAR 

COLMAR  was  the  birthplace  of  Baron 
Haussmann,  but  the  spirit  of  the  great  de- 
molisher  has  not  breathed  upon  his  natal 
town :  it  has  preserved  its  old  streets  and  its  old 
gables,  its  whole  character  of  an  old  Alsatian  city. 
As  the  great  factories  continue  to  group  them- 
selves around  Mulhouse,  the  new  quarters  of 
Colmar  rise  slowly  beside  the  old  quarters  without 
disturbing  these.  Colmar,  up  to  the  present  time, 
is  satisfied  with  a  single  tramway  line. 

As  soon  as  we  enter  Colmar,  we  feel  ourselves 
in  a  town  of  history  and  tradition,  careful,  before 
all,  to  maintain  intact  the  precious  reserves  left 
to  it  by  the  centuries,  reserves  of  glory,  reserves 
of  art,  reserves  of  liberty.  Colmar  was  a  free 
city  of  the  Empire  and  has  not  forgotten  it. 
Colmar  was  a  French  city  and  still  remembers  it. 

Amidst  the  magnificent  foliage  of  the  Champ  de 
Mars  rises,  above  a  fountain  by  Bartholdi,  the 
statue  of  Admiral  Bruat;  farther  on,  in  the 
midst  of  a  vast  esplanade,  that  of  General  Rapp. 


Colmar 


35 


These  are  the  monuments  of  a  capital.  Else- 
where, we  might  be  indifferent  to  these  bronzes. 
But,  like  the  statue  of  Kleber  at  Strasburg,  they 
are  here  the  witnesses,  the  indestructible  witnesses 
of  the  past ;  they  testify  clearly  that  Colmar  was 
the  capital  of  the  Department  of  Haut-Rhin. 

Because  of  the  caprices  of  its  plan,  the  variety  of 
its  construction,  the  old  Alsatian  city  is  delightful. 
Everything  here  is  irregular  :  no  two  houses  show 
the  same  design  or  the  same  height ;  the  squares 
obstinately  avoid  all  symmetry ;  the  streets  wind 
about  with  singular  detours.  All  these  salients, 
all  these  angles,  all  these  curves  produce  un- 
expected and  exquisite  plays  of  light  and  shade. 
Corbels  throw  fantastic  shadows  on  the  narrow 
streets;  the  sun  glides  suddenly  between  two 
peaked  gables,  illuminates  the  sculptures  of  a 
facade,  and  sparkles  on  the  windows  of  a  watch- 
tower. 

Low  gates  with  large  arches,  casements  with 
delicate  mullions,  wooden  galleries  with  elegant 
balustrades,  half-effaced  frescos,  sculptured  con- 
soles and  beams,  fine  medallions  garlanded  with 
ciphers,  towers  and  belfries,  belvederes  and  bay- 
windows,  here  we  behold  the  whole  decoration  of 
the  Renaissance.  At  the  first  glance  we  are 
tempted  to  say :  of  the  German  Renaissance. 
But,  if  we  look  a  little  closer,  and  especially  if 


36 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


we  recall  the  houses  of  Nuremberg  or  Rothenburg, 
we  quickly  recognize  in  the  architecture  and  the 
decoration  of  Colmar  a  natural  instinct  for  pro- 
portion and  harmony  which  discloses  a  particular 
taste,  peculiarly  Alsatian.  Neither  the  architects 
who  built  these  houses  nor  the  sculptors  who 
ornamented  them  were,  perhaps,  very  illustrious 
masters.  But  their  works  reflect  in  a  clear  and 
startling  fashion  the  reflective  spirit  of  a  people 
which,  from  antiquity,  had  known  Latin  culture, 
and  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  did  not  dis- 
cover, but  did  rediscover  Italy.  I  know  that  such 
impressions  are  difficult  to  define  categorically. 
But  is  it  possible  to  pass  before  the  delicious 
Pfister  House  in  the  Rue  des  Marchands,  or 
before  the  House  of  the  Heads  in  the  Rue  Vieille- 
des-Fondeurs,  or  before  the  graceful  oriel  of  the 
Police  Headquarters,  without  thinking  that  the 
Alsatian  Renaissance  is  not  the  German  Renais- 
sance ? 

These  houses  of  the  sixteenth  century,  some 
still  preserving  a  touch  of  Gothic,  others  imitating 
the  design  of  Venetian  palaces,  are  neighbors  to 
purely  Alsatian  mansions  with  uncovered  beams, 
whose  high  stepped  gables  have  .the  air  of  pagodas, 
with  their  redans  decorated  with  crescents  and 
little  obelisks.  In  addition  there  are  noble  French 
structures  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  pilasters, 


Colmar 


37 


pediments,  and  garlands.  A.nd  all  this  pell-mell 
is  charming. 

In  this  wonderful  whole,  there  is  only  one  false 
note.  The  German  restorers,  —  a  hundred  times 
more  terrible  than  even  the  French  restorers,  — 
have  seized  upon  the  old  Custom  House  of  Colmar. 
This  was  a  curious  edifice  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, done  over  in  the  time  of  the  Renaissance 
and  again  in  the  seventeenth  century,  very 
picturesque  by  reason  of  the  diversity  of  its  styles 
and  the  irregularity  of  its  construction.  They 
have  stripped  it,  they  have  restored  it,  they  have 
made  for  it  a  beautiful  new  roof  of  dark  tiles  with 
green  lozenges,  they  have  gilded  it,  they  have 
daubed  it  with  paint,  they  have  disfigured  it.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  lost  monument. 

To  taste  all  the  charm  of  Colmar  it  is  necessary 
to  wander  at  twilight  through  the  southern  quarter, 
which  is  traversed  by  the  Lauch,  and  to  find  the 
Bridge  of  Saint  Peter  at  the  edge  of  the  town. 
On  the  two  banks  very  ancient  houses  seem  to 
rise  on  tiptoe  to  peek  at  the  little  river  over  the 
foliage  of  their  tiny  gardens.  Penthouses  of  tiles 
protect  the  little  laundering  places,  which  are  now 
silent.  Flat-bottomed  barges  are  moored  along 
the  banks.  The  overlapping  roofs  merge  into 
each  other  in  the  twilight,  dominated  by  the 


38  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


tower  of  Saint  Martin.  Here  and  there  a  window 
shows  a  light. 

The  deep  silence  is  disturbed  by  a  tiny  rippling 
of  the  water,  and  we  see  a  long  boat,  loaded  with 
vegetables,  slowly  pass  under  the  arch  of  the 
bridge.  At  the  bow,  a  woman  armed  with  a 
boat  hook  steers  the  craft,  which  floats  down  the 
lazy  current  and  soon  disappears  between  the 
trees  and  the  silent  houses.  ...  A  few  moments 
later  another  boat  arrives  and  disappears,  similarly 
loaded.  ...  It  is  the  fleet  of  the  market 
gardeners,  going  to  the  market  at  Colmar. 

Night  has  come.  A  few  stars  shine  in  the  dark 
water  of  the  Lauch.  The  town  is  only  a  confused 
mass,  dotted  with  a  few  lights ;  and  in  the  lumi- 
nous sky  the  tower  of  Saint  Martin  lifts  its  strange 
pointed  cap. 

The  church  of  Saint  Martin  (at  Colmar  they 
usually  call  it  the  Cathedral)  is  a  building  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  whose  pro- 
portions are  fortunate  and  whose  nave  is  not 
without  elegance.  Its  southern  portal  shows  a 
very  strange  construction.  The  tympan  is  formed 
by  a  very  beautiful  pointed  arch,  in  which  a  semi- 
circular arch  is  inscribed.  Under  this  curve  a 
singular  bas-relief  represents  Saint  Nicholas  sur- 
rounded by  beggars ;  three  of  these  poor  wretches 


THE      VIRGIN  IN  A  THICKET  OF  ROSES 


Colmar 


39 


seem  to  totter  and  fall  down,  one  upon  another, 
like  a  house  of  cards,  without  our  being  able  to 
guess  if  the  artist  has  thus  wished  to  express  the 
state  of  feebleness  to  which  misery  has  reduced 
them,  or  if  he  has  simply  made  use  of  this  artifice 
to  conform  to  the  design  of  the  tympan  conceived 
by  the  architect.  In  any  case,  they  are  very 
beautiful  carvings. 

Among  the  pretty  statuettes  of  the  archivolt,  we 
distinguish  that  of  a  man  carrying  a  square.  He  is 
the  master-builder.  Beside  his  portrait  he  has 
placed  his  name :  Maistres  Humbret.  He  came 
from  the  Isle  of  France.  Let  us  note  it  in  passing, 
and  neglect  the  opportunity  —  sufficiently  tempt- 
ing —  to  elaborate  here  upon  the  origins  of 
Gothic  architecture  in  Alsace. 

The  great  treasure  of  Saint  Martin  of  Colmar  is 
The  Virgin  in  a  Thicket  of  Roses,  which  is  ordinarily 
attributed  to  Martin  Schongauer.  Even  if  the 
Madonna  and  Child  do  not  move  us  either  by  their 
beauty  or  by  their  expression,  the  whole  impression 
of  the  work  is  one  of  incomparable  grace  and 
splendor.  We  admire  the  magnificence  and  the 
freshness  of  the  coloring,  the  beautiful  and  simple 
arrangement  of  the  picture,  the  delicacy  with 
which  the  birds,  the  foliage,  and  the  flowers  of  the 
thicket  are  executed.  Besides,  we  are  stimulated 
by  the  comments  of  an  enthusiastic  and  subtle 


40  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

sacristan.  .  .  .  But  let  us  reserve  further  dis- 
cussion of  Martin  Schongauer  until  we  reach  the 
museum. 

The  museum  of  Colmar  is  installed  in  the 
buildings  of  the  ancient  Dominican  convent  of 
Unter linden.  This  monastery  was  rich  and  cele- 
brated in  the  Middle  Ages.  Several  of  its  nuns 
had  visions,  and  numerous  miracles  are  reputed 
to  have  occurred  there.  In  1793,  the  Revolution- 
ists devastated  Unterlinden,  which  was  later 
turned  into  a  barrack.  Toward  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  a  society  of  amateurs  and 
artists  was  formed  under  the  name  of  the  "  Schon- 
gauer Society/'  and  persuaded  the  town  to  make 
the  necessary  repairs  and  place  the  collections 
and  the  rich  library  of  Colmar  in  the  structures 
of  the  ancient  convent  which  still  remained 
standing. 

This  museum  contains  the  most  precious  relics 
of  ancient  Alsace.  In  the  restored  cloisters  are 
arranged  sculptures,  fragments  of  demolished 
convents  or  churches.  In  the  former  chapel  are 
exhibited  the  pictures. 

The  modern  museum  is  not  rich ;  it  would, 
however,  be  unjust  not  to  mention  a  few  admirable 
early  paintings  by  Henner.  But  the  ancient 
museum  contains  the  most  characteristic  works  of 


Colmar 


41 


Alsatian  art,  the  Schongauers,  the  Grunewalds, 
and  the  celebrated  altar-screen  of  Issenheim. 

I  have  never  better  understood  than  at  Colmar 
what  obscurity  envelops  and  always  will  envelop 
the  origin  of  paintings,  and  how  vain  are  the 
antics  of  critics  bent  on  piercing  this  obscurity. 

Schongauer  was  a  painter  and  an  engraver. 
All  his  engravings  are  signed  with  his  monogram. 
But  we  do  not  know  a  single  painting  by  him  which 
bears  this  monogram,  nor  a  single  one  which  an 
authenticated  document  allows  us  to  attribute  to 
his  brush.  Yet  this  does  not  prevent  the  critics 
from  writing  reams  of  foolishness  on  the  paintings 
of  Schongauer !  One  affirms  that  The  Virgin  in  a 
Thicket  of  Roses  is  incontestably  by  Schongauer, 
and  that  this  Madonna  must  serve  as  a  basis  of 
comparison  to  determine  what  works  shall  be 
attributed  or  refused  to  the  master  of  Colmar. 
Another  judiciously  remarks  that,  however  se- 
ducing may  be  The  Virgin  in  a  Thicket  of  Roses, 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  demonstrates  that 
the  author  of  it  was  Schongauer,  and  he  imme- 
diately proposes  another  criterion  which  is  no  less 
doubtful.  Another  adduces  undeniable  resem- 
blances between  certain  engravings  of  Schongauer 
and  certain  paintings  of  the  same  period.  But 
these  engravings  were  already  quite  famous,  and 
it  is  probable  that  numerous  painters  were  in- 


42  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


spired  by  them,  perhaps  independently  of  the 
master,  perhaps  under  his  direction. 

What  seems  to  be  accepted  without  controversy, 
is  that  in  the  fifteenth  century  there  was  in  Alsace 
a  very  productive  school  of  painting,  a  school 
whose  inspiration  was  far  more  Flemish  than 
German;  yet  the  word  "  Flemish"  is  not  exact, 
since  the  artist  whom  Schongauer  appears  most  to 
resemble  is  Roger  de  la  Pasture,  who  was  a  native 
of  Tournai. 

On  the  other  hand,  German  criticism,  because 
it  must  recognize  these  two  compromising  relation- 
ships, is  today  less  interested  in  Schongauer.  It 
prefers  to  dwell  on  Mathias  Grunewald  of 
Asehaffenburg,  and  wishes  to  make  him  the 
father  of  German  painting. 

The  pictures  attributed  to  Grunewald  are  the 
glory  of  the  museum  of  Colmar.  They  were  long 
believed  to  be  by  Albert  Dlirer.  Then  their 
author  was  called  Hans  Baldung  Grien.  Today 
he  is  called  Mathias  Grunewald.  What  will  they 
name  him  tomorrow?    (Note  4.) 

Little  matters  the  name  of  the  extraordinary 
painter  to  whom  we  owe  the  most  tragic  and  the 
most  dolorous  representation  that  ever  artist 
conceived  of  the  scene  on  Calvary,  the  grotesque 
and  terrifying  Temptation  of  Saint  Anthony,  the 
light  and  luminous  image  of  the  risen  Christ, 


Colmar  48 

the  gi*ave  and  sublime  conversation  of  two  hermits 
in  the  wilderness,  the  noble  figure  of  Saint  Anthony 
clothed  in  an  episcopal  costume,  the  delicious 
concert  of  angels  celebrating  the  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin,  the  magnificent  draping  of  the  mantle 
of  Saint  Sebastian !  Let  the  author  of  these 
strange  masterpieces  be  a  German ;  it  is  probable ; 
and  name  him  Grunewald,  if  such  be  your  good 
pleasure. 

He  has  the  most  original  and  the  most  char- 
acteristic gift  of  Germanic  genius;  for  with  him 
the  passion  of  the  vision  harmonizes  with  the 
fury  of  reality,  and  both  are  carried  to  excess,  the 
first  to  hallucination,  the  second  to  puerility.  He 
is  a  visionary,  and  at  the  same  time  a  terrible 
realist :  he  surrounds  sacred  beings  with 
mysterious  halos,  he  spiritualizes  them,  he  renders 
them  divine,  yet  this  does  not  in  the  least  prevent 
him  from  painting  with  repugnant  accuracy 
wounds,  ulcers,  and  tumors,  as  if  he  were  illus- 
trating a  medical  treatise.  But  this  German  did 
not  remain  in  Germany:  he  saw  Italy.  The 
magnificence  of  his  draperies,  the  fine  beauty  of 
certain  countenances,  the  prodigious  warmth  of 
color,  I  know  not  what  freedom  of  design  and  of 
accent,  all  reveal  that  he  knew,  understood,  and 
loved  the  Venetian  and  Lombard  masters.  An 
unknown  author  who  saw  these  paintings  in  1789 


44  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


in  the  convent  where  they  then  were,  described 
them  in  several  pages  and  was  the  first  to  make 
this  very  just  remark  (in  regard  to  the  two  hermits 
conversing  in  the  wilderness)  :  "In  my  opinion 
this  painting  is,  after  that  of  the  Crucifixion,  the 
most  remarkable,  because  the  landscape  is  more 
masterly  in  execution  and  quite  in  the  manner  of 
Titian."  (Note  5.)  The  author  of  a  very  remark- 
able treatise  on  the  museum  of  Colmar,  M.  Charles 
Goutzwiller,  has  gone  farther.  Having  observed 
that  the  abbot  of  the  convent  of  Issenheim,  who 
ordered  these  paintings,  was  an  Italian,  he  has 
suggested  the  hypothesis  that  the  author  of  the 
paintings  was  perhaps  an  artist  brought  from 
Italy,  who  had  to  content  himself  with  Alsatian 
peasants  as  models.  .  .  .  Here  is,  neverthe- 
less, an  Italian  whose  taste  was  very  suddenly 
Germanized ! 

Finally,  at  the  rear  of  the  Dominican  chapel, 
transformed  into  a  museum,  there  have  been 
installed  the  remnants  of  an  admirable  high-altar 
which  also  came  from  the  convent  of  Antonites  at 
Issenheim.  The  painting  which  decorates  the 
basement  of  the  altar  is  without  doubt  from  the 
hand  of  Grunewald,  if  Grunewald  is  the  author 
of  the  works  of  which  I  have  just  spoken.  Above 
the  altar  are  arranged  the  busts  of  the  twelve 
Apostles,  very  commonplace  sculptures  of  the 


Colmar 


45 


sixteenth  century.  Higher,  between  Saint  Augus- 
tine and  Saint  Jerome,  is  placed  a  grand  figure  of 
Saint  Anthony  the  Hermit,  of  superhuman 
majesty. 

How  did  these  paintings  and  these  sculptures 
happen  to  come  to  rest  in  the  museum  of  Colmar  ? 
The  story  is  worth  telling. 

They  belonged  to  the  convent  of  Antonites  at 
Issenheim,  situated  a  few  leagues  from  Colmar, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of  Gueb wilier.  This 
convent  passed  as  one  of  the  most  wealthy  of 
Christendom.  In  the  eighteenth  century  travel- 
ers came  from  all  over  Europe  to  visit  it.  The 
treasures  collected  in  the  museum  of  Colmar 
give  only  a  feeble  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  the 
monastery. 

The  Revolution  was  pitiless  along  the  upper 
Rhine.  The  Commissioner  of  the  National  Con- 
vention was  Herault  de  Sechelles.  I  have  just 
read  the  report  which  he  made  upon  his  mission. 
One  sees  there  in  full  both  the  man  and  the  work 
which  he  accomplished.  "An  orator  had  pro- 
nounced from  the  tribune  of  the  Jacobins  at 
Paris,  shortly  before  my  departure,  this  famous 
phrase,  the  only  one  which  could  have  delivered  us 
from  our  enemies,  'Let  terror  be  the  order  of  the 
day.1  What  he  advocated  I  have  done."  Else- 
where:  "By  this  all  has  been  conciliated,  safety 


46  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


and  principles  :  by  this  I  have  produced  almost 
instantly  in  the  Haut-Rhin  the  Revolutionary 
cure  :  men  and  thinss  even-where  have  submitted 
to  the  law.  .  .  ."  Again,  read  this  significant 
phrase  :  "A  new  movement  had  arisen  in  France ; 
one  saw  the  altars  crumble,  before  which  so  many 
generations  had  come  to  kneel :  the  priests  and 
bishops  surrendered  their  appointments  :  as  em- 
barrassed by  having  chosen  their  condition  as  the 
nobles  were  by  the  chance  of  their  pretended 
birth,  they  excused  themselves  for  having  existed. 
The  relics,  the  metal  saints,  the  bells,  plunged 
into  the  national  crucible  :  the  old  temples,  naked, 
despoiled  of  then  treasures  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
above  ail  of  the  treasures  of  imagination  and  the 
senses,  reduced  to  their  columns  and  their  dark 
obscurities,  were  renamed  the  sanctuaries  of 
reason.  .  . 

The  convents  were  abandoned  and  devastated, 
that  of  Issenheim  like  the  others.  But  the  whirl- 
wind passed  and  remorse  arose  for  the  recent 
vandalism.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  Vendemiaire 
of  the  year  III.  the  Director}'  of  the  District  of 
Colmar  charged  the  citizens  Marquaire  and  KarpfY, 
alias  Casimir.  to  seek  out  all  the  ''objects  of  art 
or  science."  and  to  cause  them  to  be  carried  to  the 
National  Library  of  the  district.  These  two  good 
.Alsatians  acquitted  themselves  of  their  task  with 


Colmar 


47 


much  taste  and  zeal.  Karpff  was  a  designer,  a 
pupil  of  David. 

Marquaire  and  Karpff  (their  manuscript  report 
exists  in  the  library  of  Colmar)  declared  to  the 
Directory  of  the  District  that  their  researches 
had  been  fruitful.  "But,"  added  they,  "in  mak- 
ing fortunate  discoveries  we  have  had  the  regret 
to  remark  that,  on  the  one  hand,  ignorance  had 
destroyed  very  precious  objects  which  it  took  for 
relics  of  feudality,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  carelessness  of  the  Commissioners  had  allowed 
the  great  majority  to  be  embezzled.  .  .  .  We  pass 
over  in  silence  the  destruction  of  an  immense 
number  of  objects  which  existed  in  the  churches 
of  the  district,  and  of  which  we  have  found  only 
useless  fragments.  .  .  .  The  carelessness  of  the 
Commissioners  has  lost  to  public  education  almost 
all  the  paintings  and  engravings  which  were  to  be 
found  in  the  national  buildings  and  those  of  the 
e*migr6s.  .  .  This  is  the  result  of  vandalism. 
We  will  not  follow  Marquaire  and  Karpff  in  the 
inventory  of  all  the  treasures  which  they  saved. 
We  will  content  ourselves  with  reproducing  a  few 
lines  which  they  give  to  the  altar  of  Issenheim; 
they  are  quite  unexpected  from  the  pen  of  a  pupil 
of  David  and  do  great  honor  to  his  taste  :  "There 
is  no  monument  more  worthy  of  fixing  the  atten- 
tion than  the  carving  of  this  altar,  which  is  a  pro- 


» 


48  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


duction  of  the  chisel  of  the  same  Albert  Diirer, 
and  which  is  still  standing  in  the  church  of  the 
former  Antonites  at  Issenheim.  Nothing  more 
elegant  [exists]  in  the  Gothic  taste.  The  architec- 
tural ornaments  which  decorate  this  altar,  which 
consist  of  gilded  wood,  imitate  so  perfectly  castings 
in  metal  that  one  seems  to  see  there  all  the  light- 
ness of  which  this  is  capable.  Although  a  little 
damaged  by  the  removal  of  the  figures  and  paint- 
ings in  relief,  one  is  surprised  that  a  work  so  fine 
and  so  delicate  should  have  been  able  to  resist 
the  injuries  of  many  centuries,  and  be  preserved 
in  the  state  of  perfection  in  which  it  still  is  today. 
The  removal  of  the  figures  and  paintings  of  this  altar 
would  be  inexcusable,  if  such  were  not  the  dangers  to 
which  it  was  exposed  while  vandalism  exercised  all 
its  fury.  .  .  .  With  regard  to  the  altar,  it  appears 
necessary  to  set  it  up  again  in  its  entirety,  which, 
alone,  would  display  all  its  beauty,  and  without 
which  we  could  transmit  to  posterity  only  fragments 
which,  taken  and  considered  separately,  would  have 
no  effect,  and  would  be  nothing  else  than  the 
history  of  a  useless  monument.  .  . 

The  desire  of  these  two  men  was  only  half 
accomplished,  for  it  is  told  that  two  cartloads  of 
painted  and  gilded  sculptures  derived  from  Issen- 
heim were  transported  into  a  neighboring  prov- 
ince and  sold. 


Colmar 


49 


Is  it  not  worthy  of  admiration,  the  zeal  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  year  VIII,  to  whom  we  owe 
the  paintings  and  the  sculptures  of  the  museum 
of  Colmar? 

It  is  a  festal  day  in  Colmar.  The  gymnastic 
societies  of  Upper  Alsace  are  holding  a  meeting 
on  the  Champ  de  Mars  :  a  Turnfest.  Garlands  of 
greenery,  orchestras,  banners,  postal  cards.  On 
all  sides  oriflammes  flutter  in  the  breeze.  Some 
are  green  and  red  :  these  are,  they  tell  me,  the 
colors  of  Colmar.  Others  are  red  and  white : 
these  are  the  colors  of  Strasburg.  Others  are 
mere  fantasy.  Of  a  hundred  flags,  there  are  not 
three  in  the  colors  of  Germany.  The  German  flag 
appears  only  here  and  there,  on  a  public  monu- 
ment, at  the  door  of  an  inn,  a  restaurant,  or  a 
large  shop,  and  even  there  it  never  hangs  alone. 
A  green  and  red  oriflamme  always  mingles  its 
folds  with  those  of  the  black,  white,  and  red. 


IV 

AMMERSCHWIHR,  KAYSERSBERG,  AND 
RIQUEWIHR.  —  VOLTAIRE  IN  ALSACE. 
—  SCHLESTADT.  —  HOHKOENIGSBOURG 

AT  the  foot  of  the  Vosges,  in  valleys  covered 
with  famous  vineyards,  Ammerschwihr, 
Kaysersberg,  and  Riquewihr,  three 
charming  little  towns  of  ancient  and  opulent 
Alsace,  hide  their  grand  towers,  their  picturesque 
houses,  and  their  pretty  fountains. 

On  the  way  from  Colmar  luxuriant  fields  border 
the  route.  The  flowers  of  the  vineyards  perfume 
the  countryside. 

Ammerschwihr.  —  Ammerschwihr  is  at  the  foot 
of  the  last  slopes  of  the  mountains,  at  the  spot 
where  the  Weiss,  emerging  from  the  valley  of 
Orbey,  enters  the  plains. 

It  was,  formerly,  the  city  of  Cadet-Roussel.  It 
had  three  suzerains :  the  Emperor,  the  Lord  of 
Ribeaupierre,  and  the  Lord  of  Hohlandsberg.  It 
had  three  provosts,  each  of  its  masters  naming 
his  own.    It  had  three  gates.    It  had  three  towers. 

50 




AMMERSCHW1HR 


Ammerschwihr 


51 


It  retains  its  three  towers,  but  only  the  storks 
nest  there. 

It  retains  also  its  houses  with  wooden  panels, 
its  watchtowers,  its  turrets,  its  pointed  roofs,  its 
spiral  staircases,  its  fountains,  its  great  crucifixes, 
its  ancient  charnel-house,  and  its  little  squares 
where  one  might  believe  that  a  subtle  artist  had 
arranged  everything  for  the  amusement  of  the 
eye :  the  rosebushes,  the  gables,  the  overhanging 
roofs,  the  sculptures  and  the  light.  It  still  re- 
tains its  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  a  venerable  hall 
seems  still  to  await  the  coming  of  the  three  burgo- 
masters and  the  six  councilors  of  time  that  is 
past,  and  where  a  painted  luster  in  the  form  of  a 
siren  hangs  from  the  ceiling  of  varnished  walnut. 

Seeing  me,  eyes  in  the  air,  occupied  in  examin- 
ing the  picturesqueness  of  his  little  town,  an 
Ammerschwihrian  approaches  me  and  offers  to 
serve  as  a  guide.  Above  all,  he  desires  to  show 
me  that  he  speaks  French:  how  often  in  Alsace 
have  I  met  such  an  ardor  among  the  workmen 
and  the  peasants !  He  wishes  also  to  show  me 
that  he  knows  the  history  of  the  Revolution. 
He  calls  my  attention  to  a  large  number  of  houses 
with  escutcheons  whose  sculptures  have  been  de- 
faced, and  tells  me  that  under  the  ancien  regime 
the  taxes  were  heavy  and  unjust  at  Ammer- 
schwihr.   He  speaks  with  indignation,  as  if  these 


52  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


were  things  of  yesterday,  of  the  tithes  paid  to  the 
monks  of  Unterlinden  at  Colmar;  he  affirms  to 
me  that  the  houses  decorated  with  these  escutch- 
eons were  exempt  from  the  impost,  and  that 
the  Revolutionists  had  desired  to  eliminate  all 
traces  of  this  privilege.  Evidently  this  man  does 
not  blame  the  Revolutionists,  but  he  adds  sadly : 
"It  is  too  bad,  just  the  same,  that  they  destroyed 
these  antiquities  !    They  were  very  pretty !" 

Kaysersberg.  —  A  free  city  of  the  Empire, 
Kaysersberg  was  a  member  of  the  League  of  Ten 
Cities  of  Alsace.  Now  it  is  a  cantonal  seat,  with 
the  air  of  ease  and  gaiety  of  a -beautiful  cantonal 
seat  in  France,  and  with  the  capricious  and  ir- 
regular grace  of  a  little  Alsatian  town.  The 
great  donjon  of  its  castle  lifts  its  jagged  head 
above  the  vine-branches  of  the  hillside.  The 
main  street  is  a  straight  row  —  or  nearly  so  — 
of  stepped  gables.  In  the  market  square,  before 
the  Romanesque  portal,  a  bearded  old  saint 
with  a  great  cross  in  his  arm  surmounts  the  town 
fountain.  Within  the  church,  decorated  with  fir 
branches,  are  the  paintings  which  were  formerly 
improperly  attributed  to  Holbein  and  a  beautiful 
Holy  Sepulcher  in  stone  where  an  enigmatic 
Magdalen  seems  almost  to  smile  while  presenting 
her  perfumes.    Beyond,  a  camel-backed  bridge 


Kaysersberg 


3> 


Riquewihr 


53 


crosses  the  Weiss ;  and,  on  the  two  banks  of  the 
brook,  the  lines  of  the  roof  overlap  each  other  in 
the  most  fantastic  of  confusions. 

Kaysersberg  possesses  a  singular  and  charming 
street :  on  both  sides,  before  the  fagades  of  the 
houses,  are  ranged  boxes  in  which  are  planted 
laurels,  pomegranates  and  other  shrubs.  This 
flowery  way  leads  to  the  hospital.  .  .  . 

Riquewihr.  —  There  are  in  Europe  a  few  little 
towns  where,  as  chance  has  maintained  intact  the 
externals  of  the  past,  we  enter  directly  into  the 
life  of  the  men  of  other  days ;  such  are  Rothen- 
burg  in  Bavaria,  San  Gimignano  in  Tuscany, 
Cordes  in  Albigeois,  Ypres  in  Flanders,  etc.  .  .  . 
Riquewihr  is  one  of  these  rare  and  exquisite  places : 
its  streets  and  houses  retain  today  the  same  as- 
pect which  they  had  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance. 

How  is  it  that  the  centuries  have  modified  so 
little  the  physiognomy  of  Riquewihr? 

In  the  first  place,  before  the  Revolution  Rique- 
wihr did  not  follow  the  same  path  as  the  rest  of 
Alsace.  It  was  the  capital  of  a  little  lordship 
which  from  the  fourteenth  century  belonged  to 
the  dukes  of  Wurtemberg  and  of  Montbeliard, 
and  even  after  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  these 
dukes  continued  to  govern  their  domain  under 
the  sovereignty  of  France.    Riquewihr  thus  lived 


54  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

in  isolation  until  the  time  when  it  was  incorporated 
with  the  French  republic,  and  even  then  its  for- 
feiture by  the  house  of  Wurtemberg  was  not 
sanctioned  until  the  Treaty  of  Luneville  was 
signed  in  1801.  This  political  isolation  con- 
tributed to  the  individual  aspect  of  the  tiny 
principality. 

This  is  not  the  only  reason  for  this  originality. 
If  the  Riquewihr  of  today  so  much  resembles  the 
Riquewihr  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is  because 
its  inhabitants  have,  during  all  this  time,  changed 
neither  their  existence  nor  their  ways  nor  their 
business.  Vine  growers  they  were,  vine  growers 
they  remain.  They  continue  to  press  out  the 
lightest,  the  most  perfumed,  the  freshest,  and  the 
most  treacherous  white  wine  of  all  Alsace,  the 
" Riesling."  Upon  their  hillsides  their  beautiful 
vines,  cultivated  on  stakes,  describe,  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  see,  great  symmetrical  curves,  widely 
spaced,  called  franconis,  because  a  horseman  would 
have  space  enough  to  leap  his  horse  across  the 
rows  of  props.  Scarcely  do  we  enter  the  town 
before  we  perceive,  nailed  to  all  the  house  fronts, 
the  signs  of  wine  brokers  :  Weinsticher-Gourmet ; 
it  is  the  French  expression :  gourmet  piqueur  de 
vin  (skilled  taster  of  wine),  of  which  the  German 
law  requires  that  the  first  half  should  be  expressed 
in  German.    In  short,  from  time  immemorial 


Riquewihr 


55 


Riquewihr  has  had  only  one  thought,  Riquewihr 
has  had  only  one  means  of  fortune :  the  vine. 
Such  a  perpetuity  of  tradition  attaches  men  to 
the  familiar  home,  and  endears  to  them  the  ancient 
stones  of  their  city.  That  is  why  the  ancient 
homes  still  stand  and  almost  all  the  old  stones 
have  been  respected.    (Note  6.) 

Almost  all!  for,  about  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  they  demolished  their  ancient 
churches.  And  now  they  are  building  new  houses 
outside  the  city  wall,  villainous  new  houses ! 
And  the  Under-secretary  of  State  for  the  Post 
Office  has  just  endowed  Riquewihr  with  a  post 
building  of  which  he  himself,  they  say,  drafted 
the  plans,  and  which,  a  mixture  of  Old  German 
and  New  Art,  in  style  resembles  a  brewery. 

Riquewihr  was  well  defended  against  plunderers 
who  might  be  tempted  to  come  to  taste  the  wine 
of  its  cellars;  it  was  protected  by  a  double  line 
of  walls,  and  two  high  square  towers  still  sur- 
mount the  gates  on  the  western  side;  the  port- 
cullis is  still  in  place. 

The  streets  offer  the  same  picturesque  ensemble 
—  but  here  more  complete  and  richer  —  which 
has  already  ravished  us  in  the  other  little  towns 
of  Alsace  :  decorated  beams,  fine  turrets,  and  bay- 
windows  with  balconies  of  stone.  All  the  houses 
of  the  burghers  of  Riquewihr  are  constructed  on 


56  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


a  single  plan.  Facing  the  street  is  a  graceful 
facade,  ornamented  with  devices  and  timber  work. 
A  large  carriage  gate  gives  access  to  a  court  sur- 
rounded by  the  living  quarters  and  by  high  walls, 
often  battlemented,  for  each  home  formed  a  little 
fortress.  In  an  elegant  turret,  nestled  up  to  the 
house  and  terminated  by  a  pointed  roof,  winds  a 
spiral  staircase.  Near  it  a  well  lifts  its  uprights 
of  finely  sculptured  stone.  I  entered  one  of  these 
homes  where  they  had  piously  preserved  the  heavy 
and  magnificent  wood-carvings  of  olden  time.  I 
saw  the  great  hall  of  the  first  story  which  receives 
light  through  the  windows  of  the  projecting  bay, 
the  massive  doors,  the  coffered  ceiling,  the  porce- 
lain stove ;  and  I  received  in  this  old  Alsatian 
home  an  impression  which  I  can  scarcely  define  of 
wealth,  of  cordiality,  and  of  immutability.  I  had 
wandered  through  the  streets,  the  squares,  and  the 
alleys  of  Riquewihr,  I  had  made  the  tour  of  the 
ancient  moats  of  the  town  with  vines  growing  on 
their  very  edges,  I  had  just  glanced  at  the  old 
castle  of  the  dukes  of  Wurtemberg,  today  re- 
stored, alas!  and  converted  into  a  school,  when 
I  stumbled  on  the  Rue  Voltaire. 

The  Rue  Voltaire,  at  Riquewihr !  .  .  .  At  Col- 
mar,  several  days  before,  I  had  already  seen  the 
house  of  Voltaire.  The  Alsatians,  then,  have  not 
lost  the  memory  of  the  sojourn  which  the  author 


A  STREET  IN  RIQUEWIHR 


Voltaire  in  Alsace 


57 


of  the  Henriad  made  among  them.  As  the  whole 
world  has  not  as  good  a  memory  as  the  Alsatians, 
let  us  open  a  volume  of  his  correspondence. 

Voltaire  lived  fifteen  months  in  Alsace,  from 
August,  1753,  to  November,  1754.  This  was 
neither  the  happiest  nor  the  most  glorious  period 
of  his  life. 

He  had  just  quarreled  with  Frederick.  Bru- 
tally arrested  at  Frankfort  by  order  of  the  sover- 
eign, he  had  recovered  his  liberty  only  after  he 
had  returned  to  Potsdam  his  chamberlain's  key, 
his  decorations,  and  the  " poetical"  works  of  his 
royal  disciple.  A  sojourn  of  a  fortnight  with 
the  Palatine  Elector  Charles  Theodore  comforted 
him  a  little.  At  the  little  court  of  Schwetzingen 
he  was  offered  encomiums  and  fetes.  Thence 
he  traveled  to  Strasburg,  accompanied  by  his 
secretary  Collini. 

He  was  then  in  a  difficult  situation.  His  rup- 
ture with  Frederick  had  closed  Germany  to  him. 
However  favorably  disposed  to  him  Madame  de 
Pompadour  might  be,  he  could  not  dream  of 
returning  to  Paris.  Discovering  no  asylum  where 
he  might  rest  in  his  old  age  and  nurse  his  ills,  he 
decided  to  remain  in  Alsace.  He  was  also  urged 
to  this  by  a  double  motive.  He  had  promised  the 
Duchess  of  Gotha  to  write  a  summary  of  the 


58 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


history  of  Germany,  under  the  title  Annates  de 
V Empire j  and  he  believed  he  could  find  in  Alsace 
all  of  the  reference  books  which  he  needed  to 
complete  his  task.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was 
a  favor  ah  le  opportunity  for  him  to  protect  his 
own  interests :  in  1735,  he  had  lent  a  capital  of 
300,000  livres  to  Duke  Charles  Eugene  of  Wurtem- 
berg  against  a  contingent  annuity  of  7500  reichs- 
thalers,  and  this  debt  was  secured  by  a  mortgage 
on  the  vineyards  of  Riquewihr.  He  was  pleased 
at  the  opportunity  to  assure  himself  that  the 
security  was  good,  and  the  vineyards  wisely 
administered. 

After  a  few  weeks  passed  at  Strasburg,  he  came 
to  Colmar,  and  installed  himself  in  a  house  in 
the  Rue  des  Juifs,  belonging  to  a  married  couple 
named  Goll.  The  rooms  which  he  used  —  two  on 
the  ground  floor  —  are  now  occupied  as  an  apothe- 
cary shop.  The  two  windows  which  open  on  the 
street  are  fitted  with  beautiful  gratings.  On  the 
wall  there  is  no  memorial  tablet,  but  an  advertise- 
ment of  a  tooth-wash. 

"I  dwell,"  wrote  Voltaire,  "in  a  filthy  house  in 
a  filthy  town."  Nevertheless,  he  accommodated 
himself  to  the  house  and  to  the  town :  his  hosts 
were  kind  and  attentive;  learned  and  charming 
men  came  to  visit  him,  such  as  that  advocate  of 
the  bar  of  Colmar,  M.  Dupont,  "a  man  of  great 


Portraits  of  Voltaire 

Potrelle's,  Bromley  's  Prints.  —  Etched  by  S.  A.  Schoff 


Voltaire  in  Alsace 


59 


independence  of  ideas,  amiable,  gifted  with  a 
lively  and  playful  imagination,  and  a  great  lover 
of  literature";  Collini  played  a  game  of  chess 
with  him  every  evening ;  the  young  cookmaid 
Babet,  witty  and  talkative,  showed  him  "  atten- 
tions which  servants  do  not  ordinarily  show  to 
their  masters";  finally,  he  had  at  his  command 
the  books  and  the  men  necessary  to  inform  him 
upon  the  history  of  Germany,  and  the  printer 
Joseph  Schoepflin,  brother  of  the  historian,  edited 
his  Annates  de  V Empire.  He  certainly  grew  to 
like  Alsace,  for  he  dreamed  of  building  a  beautiful 
house  on  the  ruins  of  the  castle  of  Horbourg, 
which  belonged  to  his  debtor  the  Duke  of  Wurtem- 
berg.  As  "this  venerable  ruin"  was  involved  in 
a  lawsuit,  he  gave  up  the  idea,  writing:  "I  am 
not  going  to  build  a  hospice  which  would  have  a 
lawsuit  for  a  foundation"  ;  but  he  began  to  seek 
for  another  property.  Unfortunately,  in  Alsace, 
as  elsewhere,  Voltaire  could  not  escape  the  three 
enemies  which  everywhere  marred  his  happiness : 
the  gout,  literary  pirates,  and  the  Jesuits. 

He  was  accustomed  to  pretend  illness :  it  was 
his  way  of  getting  rid  of  bores;  but,  above  all, 
by  giving  himself  out  as  dying,  he  expected  to 
excite  the  compassion  of  his  friends  and  to  give 
his  enemies  the  reassuring  hope  of  an  approaching 
deliverance.    We  must,  therefore,  not  be  too  much 


60  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


misled  by  his  eternal  complaints,  and  not  take 
him  too  seriously  when  he  writes  to  Madame  de 
Fontaines  :  "  Do  you  paint  from  the  nude,  Madame, 
and  have  you  models?  When  you  would  like  to 
paint  an  old  wrapped-up  invalid,  with  a  pen  in 
one  hand  and  rhubarb  in  another,  between  a 
doctor  and  a  secretary,  one  with  books  and  the 
other  with  a  syringe,  give  me  the  preference. " 
Nevertheless,  the  climate  of  Alsace  was  too  rigor- 
ous for  him.  He  passed  a  few  days  at  Lutten- 
bach,  in  the  valley  of  Munster,  a  few  weeks  in 
the  Vosges  and  at  Plombieres ;  the  rest  of  the 
time  he  remained  immured  in  his  little  apart- 
ment in  the  Rue  de  Juifs,  working  incessantly. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1753,  he  wrote  to 
Madame  de  Pompadour:  "The  King  of  Prussia 
was  born  to  be  my  evil  genius.  I  am  not  speak- 
ing of  the  unheard-of  affection  which  he  lavished 
on  me  to  tear  me  from  my  native  land.  It  now 
turns  out  that  an  unrevised  manuscript  which  I 
lent  him  in  1739  was  captured,  as  they  say,  in 
his  baggage,  at  the  battle  of  Sohr,  by  Austrian 
hussars ;  that  a  servant  sold  it  to  Jean  Neaulme, 
publisher  at  The  Hague  and  Berlin,  who  prints 
the  works  of  His  Prussian  Majesty;  and  finally 
that  this  publisher  has  printed  and  disfigured  it. 
Meanwhile,  Madame,  the  King  is  very  humbly 
begged  to  consider  that  my  niece  at  Paris  is 


PORTRAIT  OF  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT 


Voltaire  in  Alsace 


61 


dying.  .  .  .  The  King  is  full  of  pity  and  kind- 
ness; he  will  perhaps  deign  to  remember  that  I 
have  employed  several  years  of  my  life  in  writing 
the  history  of  his  predecessor  and  that  of  his 
glorious  campaigns;  that,  alone  among  the 
academicians,  I  have  made  his  panegyric,  which 
has  been  translated  into  five  languages."  And 
Voltaire  asks  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  come 
to  Paris  to  arrange  his  affairs,  and  "  provide 
bread  for  his  family."  In  drawing  up  his  petition 
he  well  knows  that  it  will  not  be  granted  and  that 
he  will  not  be  allowed  to  come  to  Paris;  but  he 
wishes  to  put  on  record  that  he  disavows  the 
edition  of  the  Abrege  de  VHistoire  Universelle 
published  under  his  name  by  the  publisher  of 
The  Hague  and  Berlin,  for  in  this  pirated  edition 
there  were  not  only  absurdities  and  typographical 
errors,  but  also  skillful  interpolations  and  sup- 
pressions, which,  by  modifying  the  thoughts  of 
the  author,  must  have  caused  despair  to  his  pro- 
tectors and  joy  to  his  enemies. 

The  danger  was  not  imaginary.  The  Jesuits 
were  powerful  in  Alsace.  Four  years  before,  they 
had  burned  Bayle's  Dictionary  in  the  market  place 
of  Colmar,  and  an  advocate-general  had  himself 
thrown  his  copy  into  the  fire.  Voltaire  knew  the 
story.  He  knew  also  that  a  certain  Jesuit,  Father 
Merat,  was  intriguing  against  him.    To  avert  the 


62  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


danger ,  he  judged  it  politic  to  write  a  sufficiently 
insipid  letter  to  another  Jesuit,  Father  Menoux. 
The  latter,  who  did  not  believe  a  word  of  Vol- 
taire's protests,  made  fun  of  him,  and  thus  ended 
his  reply:  "How  unfortunate  that  I  cannot  es- 
teem you  as  much  as  I  love  you !"  The  situation 
became  critical.  It  was  not  only  Father  M6rat 
who  demanded  the  banishment  of  the  heresiarch. 
Father  Kroust  and  Father  Ernest,  mortal  enemies 
of  Voltaire,  were  in  the  plot.  The  Prince  Bishop 
of  Bale  launched  against  him  the  Jesuits  of  his 
college.  .  .  .  But  suddenly  the  tempest  passed 
over,  and,  in  April,  1754,  hoping  to  disarm  forever 
the  Jesuits  who  were  at  his  heels,  Voltaire  sent 
for  a  Capuchin  monk,  secluded  himself  with  him, 
and  went  to  receive  the  sacraments. 

What  church  of  Colmar  was  the  scene  of  this 
sacrilege?  The  parish  church  of  Saint  Martin 
or  the  chapel  of  the  Capuchin  convent?  Collini, 
the  faithful  secretary,  has  not  told  us ;  but  he  has 
left  ten  lines  on  this  subject  to  paint  the  picture : 
"I  avow  that  I  profited  by  such  a  rare  occasion 
to  examine  the  countenance  of  Voltaire  during 
such  an  important  act.  God  will  pardon  me  for 
this  curiosity  and  for  my  distraction.  At  the 
moment  when  he  was  about  to  communicate  I 
raised  my  eyes  to  heaven,  as  if  in  prayer,  and  I 
cast  a  sudden  glance  at  Voltaire's  attitude ;  he 


Schlestadt  63 

presented  his  tongue  and  fixed  his  wide-open 
eyes  upon  the  face  of  the  priest.  I  knew  such 
glances.  When  he  got  home  he  sent  the  Capuchins 
a  dozen  bottles  of  good  wine  and  a  loin  of  veal" 
(Note?). 

This  " first  communion"  caused  a  great  scandal, 
and  did  not  stop  the  persecution.  Six  months 
afterward,  Voltaire  had  to  quit  Alsace,  not  having 
found  there  the  sure  asylum  for  his  old  age  of 
which  he  had  dreamed.  He  went  first  to  Lyons 
and  then  to  Switzerland. 

At  Colmar  he  had  finished  the  Annates  de 
I'Empire,  and  written  the  Orphelin  de  la  Chine. 
The  Annates  are  not  the  best  of  his  historical 
works.  The  Orphelin  is  not  the  best  of  his  dramas. 
This,  however,  matters  very  little  to  the  wine 
growers  of  Riquewihr.  They  are  proud  that  their 
vines  should  have  guaranteed  the  income  of  Vol- 
taire and  that  the  revenues  of  their  fields  should 
have  perhaps  served  to  satisfy  the  fancies  of 
Madame  Denis  (Note  8). 

Schlestadt.  —  Schlestadt  has  the  melancholy 
appearance  of  towns  of  fallen  fortunes.  Above 
all  the  free  cities  of  Alsace,  it  was  distinguished 
in  former  days  by  its  passion  for  independence 
and  for  war.  During  the  Renaissance  it  became 
one  of  the  great  foci  of  humanism.    Its  pride 


64  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


with  difficulty  resigned  itself  to  its  conquest  by 
Louis  XIV.  During  the  Revolution  it  became 
the  prey  of  factions.  It  had  forgotten,  however, 
this  turbulent  and  glorious  past,  satisfied  with 
its  destiny  as  a  French  subprefecture  and  content 
with  its  industrial  prosperity,  when  the  War  of 
1870  and  the  annexation  struck  it  a  fatal  blow. 
Since  that  time  its  industry  has  dwindled  away 
and  its  population  has  decreased.  ...  It  re- 
mains silent  and  dejected. 

It  has  its  relics :  its  painted  tower  and  its  two 
admirable  churches  of  Saint  George  and  Holy 
Faith.  Under  the  vaulted  roof  of  its  beautiful 
library  it  guards  the  venerable  books  which  the 
illustrious  humanist  Beatus  Rhenanus  bequeathed 
to  his  natal  town.  But  its  tortuous  streets  are 
the  realm  of  silence.  Its  squares  lie  deserted,  like 
the  courts  of  a  beguinage.  We  hear  the  shoes  of 
a  rare  pedestrian  resound  upon  its  pavements  for 
great  distances.  Before  Saint  George,  at  the 
moment  when  I  crossed  the  parvis,  I  perceived 
at  a  window,  behind  a  lifted  curtain,  the  face  of  a 
curious  old  woman :  she  examined  with  surprise 
the  stranger,  the  unknown.  A  few  minutes  later, 
I  returned  to  the  same  spot ;  I  again  saw  the  same 
curtain  lifted ;  but  the  lean  yellow  hand  let  it 
drop  immediately,  and  this  brusque  and  dis- 
couraged gesture  meant  very  clearly :  does  one 


Schlestadt 


65 


ever  see,  before  Saint  George,  two  new  faces  in  a 
single  afternoon? 

The  little  museum  of  Schlestadt  possesses  a 
female  bust  of  strange  and  sorrowful  beauty.  A 
few  years  ago,  while  restoring  the  church  of  Holy 
Faith,  workmen  uncovered  some  ancient  tombs. 
Upon  the  body  of  a  woman  buried  at  this  place 
had  been  thrown  a  layer  of  lime,  in  which  were 
modeled  every  feature  of  the  face  and  every  detail 
of  the  clothing.  The  imprint  was  as  perfect  as 
that  of  the  corpses  found  in  the  hardened  ashes 
of  Pompeii.  The  masons  emptied  the  mold 
formed  by  the  lime,  ran  in  plaster,  and  obtained 
an  image  of  the  dead.  Naturally  there  were  some 
individuals  who  were  not  willing  that  this  should 
remain  nameless;  they  discovered  a  name  for  it 
and  proved  that  this  woman  had  died  of  the 
plague.  One  side  of  the  face  seemed  to  be  de- 
stroyed as  a  result  of  the  illness,  and  this  ex- 
plained, as  they  said,  the  burial  in  lime.  Less 
imaginative  archeologists  have  attributed  the 
marks  on  the  face  to  the  imperfection  of  the 
casting ;  they  have  pretended  that  the  body  was 
covered  with  lime  to  separate  it  from  other  bodies 
enclosed  in  the  same  grave,  that  all  the  legends 
must  be  abandoned,  and  that  no  one  would  ever 
know  the  name  of  the  buried  woman.  .  .  .  Let 
us  agree  to  bless  the  archeologists  who  let  us 


66  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


dream  quietly  before  this  admirable  bit  of  sculp- 
ture, which  one  might  believe  was  modeled  by 
Verrocchio.  Each  of  us  is  at  liberty  to  invent 
his  own  answer  to  the  enigma  of  these  pure  and 
sad  features,  and  to  construct,  according  to  his 
own  fancy,  the  romance  of  this  noble  creature  to 
whom  death  seems  to  have  given  peace,  but  not 
forgetfulness  of  earthly  suffering. 

Hohkoenigsbourg.  —  The  castle  of  Hoh- 
koenigsbourg  crowns  a  precipitous  mountain, 
an  outlier  of  the  Vosges  chain.  It  overlooks 
from  far  above  the  donjons  which  rise  on  all 
the  neighboring  crests,  and  seems  to  command 
the  plain  of  Alsace.  As  soon  as  we  perceive  it, 
we  understand  the  thought  of  Wilhelm  II  in 
choosing  this  old  fortress  to  make  of  it  the  emblem 
of  imperial  sovereignty  over  the  conquered  prov- 
ince. 

In  1899,  Hohkoenigsbourg  was  only  a  ruin, 
magnificent  and  moving,  but  fast  crumbling  to 
nothingness :  its  sculptures  had  sloughed  away ; 
its  roofs  were  broken  through;  vegetation  had 
entirely  covered  it.  The  town  of  Schlestadt, 
owner  of  the  castle,  was  too  poor  to  preserve 
this  admirable  ruin.  In  1899,  it  offered  the  do- 
main to  the  emperor,  who  accepted  the  present : 
"May  this  gift,"  he  wrote  to  the  burgomaster  of 


Castle  of  Hohkot  nigsbourg 


Hohkoenigsbourg 


67 


Schlestadt,  "  become  a  new  bond  of  confident  love 
between  me  and  the  empire,  and  may  the  Hoh- 
koenigsbourg  forever  behold  at  its  feet  a  peaceable 
country  and  a  happy  population!" 

Wilhelm  II  undertook  to  restore,  which  means 
in  German  as  in  French  to  rebuild,  Hohkoenigs- 
bourg.  He  entrusted  the  task  to  an  architect 
who  passes  as  very  skillful  in  such  matters,  Herr 
Bodo  Ebhardt.  Not  all  his  subjects  approved  the 
project  of  their  emperor.  Some  protested  against 
this  restoration,  and  claimed  that  he  was  going  to 
spend  in  this  business  a  great  deal  of  money  to 
destroy  a  grand  ruin,  which  it  would  be  sufficient 
to  consolidate.  But  such  ideas  —  which  are  held 
by  few  even  in  France  —  appeared  in  Germany 
the  most  ridiculous  of  paradoxes.  No  people  in 
Europe  is  obsessed  as  much  as  the  Germans  with 
the  mania  of  the  old-new  and  the  passion  for 
sham  antiques.  Besides,  just  as  Wilhelm  II  does 
not  fear  the  most  sudden  and  unexpected  political 
volte-faces,  his  esthetics  remain  imperturbable. 
He  has  a  confidence  in  his  own  taste  which  noth- 
ing can  shake,  and  this  taste  is  mediocre.  So 
he  restored  Hohkoenigsbourg.  He  knowingly 
recommenced  here  those  expensive  follies  which 
Napoleon  III  allowed  Viollet-le-Duc  to  commit 
at  Pierrefonds.  I  have  before  me  photographs 
of  Hohkoenigsbourg  in  1899  :  what  a  disaster ! 


68 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


The  work  is  pursued  actively.  The  workmen 
are  numerous.  I  could  scarcely  walk  about  in 
the  midst  of  the  carts  and  scaffolds  which  filled 
the  courts  of  the  old  castle.  An  electric  crane, 
installed  at  the  head  of  the  donjon  tower,  raised 
the  materials.  And  it  was  a  deliciously  comic 
spectacle  to  see  all  these  modern  engines  em- 
ployed to  build  a  medieval  fortress.  Never  have 
I  seen  as  clearly  as  in  the  shops  of  Hohkoenigs- 
bourg  the  infinite  puerility  of  restorations.  So 
much  effort,  so  much  knowledge,  so  much  money 
spent  to  build  a  bit  of  stage  scenery !  The 
beauty,  the  formidable  beauty  of  these  old  towers 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  above  all  created  by  our 
imagination  when  we  thought  of  the  terrible  labor 
of  the  men  who  placed  these  masses  of  granite. 
All  these  towers,  all  these  fortifications,  con- 
structed by  electricity  and  steam,  are  only  a 
ridiculous  pastiche,  frozen  and  speechless ! 

We  live  in  1903 :  an  architect,  who  is  perhaps 
not  lacking  in  talent,  consecrates  his  ingenuity  to 
reconstructing  a  keep  of  the  thirteenth  century 
and  walls  of  the  fifteenth ;  masons  build  crenela- 
tions  and  machicolations,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
projectiles  may  rebound,  curve  backward,  and 
decimate  the  besieging  hosts;  carpenters  con- 
struct wooden  shutters  to  ornament  the  crenela- 
tions,  and  painters  paint  these  shutters  black,  for 


o 

02 
I— I 

o 

W 
o 

W 

H 


O 


Hohkoenigsbourg  69 


a  mysterious  end  which  my  ignorance  of  the  rules 
of  fortification  prevents  me  from  guessing !  And 
when  all  these  workers  shall  have  terminated  their 
work,  there  will  arrive  an  army  of  "  professors, " 
who  will  paint  upon  the  walls  of  the  castle  his- 
toric battle  scenes.    What  imbecility  all  this  is ! 

"  Photographieren  verboten"  photography  for- 
bidden, is  written  on  the  gate  of  Hohkoenigsbourg. 
Why  this  interdiction  ?  Is  it  that,  perchance,  the 
restorers  of  the  castle  may  be  conscious  of  the 
foolishness  of  their  electric  crane,  perched  on  a 
feudal  tower,  and  may  wish  to  insure  that  no  one 
should  preserve  a  remembrance  of  this  somewhat 
ridiculous  phase  of  their  enterprise  ?  Or  rather  do 
they  desire  to  prevent  some  " foreign  power"  from 
learning  the  secret  of  the  crenelations  and  the 
machicolations  of  Hohkoenigsbourg  ?  We  can  be- 
lieve neither  in  so  much  shame  nor  in  so  much 
prudence.  Then  why,  why,  this  photographieren 
verboten  ? 


V 


SAINTE-ODILE  AND  OBERNAI 

SAINTE-ODILE.  —  Here  are  the  holy 
places  of  Alsace.  All  is  here  legendary 
and  sacred :  the  trees,  the  rocks,  and  the 
streams.  A  whole  people  comes  here  continually 
to  question  the  witnesses  of  its  most  ancient  his- 
tory, to  renew  its  faith,  and  to  reassure  its  hope. 
Under  the  mosses  of  the  forest,  it  discovers  the 
great  stones  of  the  wall  behind  which  its  ancestors 
sheltered  their  gods  and  their  children  when  the 
barbarians  burst  into  the  plain.  It  comes  to  the 
tomb  of  Saint  Odile,  the  gentle  heroine  who 
braved  persecution  to  remain  faithful  to  her 
vows  and  merit  the  fulfillment  of  the  divine 
promise,  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Christian 
virgin,  which  teaches  it  the  irresistible  power  of 
stubborn  wills  and  indomitable  hearts. 

Omnia  si  perdas,  verbum  coeleste  reserva.  If 
you  lose  all,  preserve  the  sacred  word.  Alsace 
has  never  ceased  to  obey  this  injunction,  which 
may  still  be  seen  engraved  in  stone  on  one  of  the 
towers  of  Obernai. 


Sainte-Odile  and  Obernai  71 


Great  forests  envelop  the  mountain  whose 
summit  bears  the  monastery  of  Sainte-Odile. 
Taine  has  described  them  in  some  pages  to  which 
I  take  pleasure '  in  sending  you ;  for  they  form 
one  of  the  most  magnificent  and  finished  pictures 
which  this  admirable  artist  has  given  us  (Note  9). 

"  Things  are  divine :  that  is  why  it  is  necessary 
to  conceive  gods  to  express  things :  each  land- 
scape has  its  own,  somber  or  serene,  but  always 
grand."  Such  is  the  theme  of  this  admirable 
passage.  Its  sentiment  is  quite  in  the  manner 
of  Goethe,  and  it  precedes  a  brief  study  of  Iphi- 
genia  in  Tauris.  .  .  .  Now,  as  I  was  recently 
rereading  Truth  and  Poetry,  I  came  upon  the 
following  passage:  "I  still  recall  with  pleasure  a 
pilgrimage  to  Ottilienberg,  undertaken  with  a 
hundred,  or  perhaps  a  thousand  believers.  In 
this  place,  where  still  may  be  seen  the  foundations 
of  a  Roman  castellum,  a  young  and  beautiful 
countess  had,  they  say,  retired,  from  pious  in- 
clination, to  the  midst,  of  crevasses  and  ruins. 
Not  far  from  the  chapel  where  the  pilgrims  pay 
their  devotions,  her  fountain  is  shown  and  of 
this  gracious  legends  are  told.  The  image  which 
I  formed  of  her,  together  with  her  name,  are 
deeply  graven  in  my  memory.  They  will  long 
remain  with  me ;  I  even  gave  this  name  to  one 
of  my  daughters,  a  late  comer,  but  not  less 


72  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


cherished  (Ottilie  in  Elective  Affinities),  who  was 
received  with  great  favor  by  pure  and  pious 
souls." 

The  lyrical  description  of  Tain'e,  contrasted  to 
the  somewhat  prosaic  dryness  of  Goethe,  together 
make  a  fine  subject  for  meditation  for  the  strollers 
in  the  forest  of  Sainte-Odile,  to  whom  the  coolness 
of  the  ravines  and  the  play  of  light  on  the  silvery 
trunks  of  the  firs  should  not  render  all  literature 
distasteful.  One  could  thus  measure  in  turn  the 
influence  of  Germanic  culture  on  Taine  and  that 
of  French  culture  on  Goethe. 

After  traversing  the  outline  of  that  mysterious 
enclosure  which  is  customarily  called  the  Pagan 
Wall  and  which  was  a  sort  of  camp  of  refuge 
built  by  the  Celts  (Note  10),  we  enter  the  monas- 
tery of  Sainte-Odile.  Century-old  lindens  shade 
the  great  entrance  court. 

The  church,  situated  at  the  end  of  this  court, 
communicates  with  a  very  ancient  chapel,  where 
the  relics  of  the  saint  are  exposed  in  a  shrine  for 
the  veneration  of  pilgrims.  We  see  also  in  a 
glazed  sarcophagus  the  painted  statue  of  the  patron 
saint  of  Alsace  :  her  face  is  pink,  her  hair  flaxen, 
and  the  body  is  enveloped  in  a  great  violet  mantle. 

Of  the  ancient  convent,  many  times  burned, 
there  remains  no  more  than  two  rude  and  venerable 
bas-reliefs  built  into  the  wall  of  one  of  the  corri- 


Sainte-Odile  and  Obernai  73 


dors,  which  seem  to  date  from  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. The  present  buildings  date  only  from  the 
seventeenth.    They  are  simple  and  characterless. 

A  property  of  the  bishopric  of  Strasburg,  the 
monastery  is  occupied  by  sisters  of  the  Third 
Order  of  Saint  Francis.  Here  they  keep  a  veri- 
table hotel :  and  even  though  served  by  attentive 
and  smiling  nuns,  the  table  d'hote  is  none  the  less 
in  this  "  pension  "  the  dull  and  dreary  table  d'hote 
of  all  u pensions,"  where  each  summer  people  enjoy 
the  melancholy  pleasures  of  the  summer  resort. 

I  quickly  shook  off  this  annoying  impression  on 
the  terrace,  the  marvelous  terrace,  whence  we 
overlook  a  chaos  of  forests  and  may  see,  it  is 
said,  twenty  towns  and  three  hundred  villages. 
I  did  not  see  them :  thick  clouds  hung  from 
mountain  to  mountain  all  around  Sainte-Odile. 
The  plain  appeared  only  in  sudden  glimpses 
through  the  heavy  storm  clouds,  and  I  have  re- 
tained an  almost  tragic  remembrance  of  this 
spectacle. 

It  is  on  this  platform  that  M.  Rene  Bazin  has 
staged  the  most  moving  and  grandiose  scene  of 
his  Les  Oberle.  It  is  there  that  he  has  shown  the 
pilgrims  assembled  on  Easter  Eve  to  hear,  mount- 
ing from  the  plain,  the  song  of  all  the  bells  of 
Alsace :  "  Voices  of  little  bells  and  voices  of  great 
cathedral  bourdons;  voices  which  did  not  cease, 


74  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


and  which  from  one  stroke  to  another  were  pro- 
longed in  undertones;  voices  which  passed  light, 
intermittent,  and  fine,  like  a  shuttle  through  the 
warp ;  monstrous  choirs,  whose  singers  could  not 
see  each  other;  an  allegro  from  a  whole  popu- 
lation of  churches;  canticles  of  eternal  spring, 
which  rose  from  the  bottom  of  the  plain,  veiled 
with  mist,  and  soared  to  melt  together  at  the 
summit  of  Sainte-Odile."  An  admirable  picture, 
where  the  novelist  has  reproduced  with  passionate 
tenderness  all  the  beauty,  all  the  faith,  and  all  the 
sadness  of  Alsace. 

Since  I  have  quoted  Les  Oberle,  I  wish  in  pass- 
ing to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  pictures  of  M. 
Rene  Bazin.  I  have  recognized  the  lines,  the 
colors,  and  the  perfume  of  the  landscapes  which 
he  has  described.  I  have  questioned  the  men; 
I  have  found  on  their  lips  the  same  words  and  in 
their  hearts  the  same  sentiments  which  he  has 
attributed  to  them.  His  characters  are  truly  the 
Alsatians  of  today.  They  affirm  it,  and  when 
they  speak  of  Les  Oberle,  they  attest  the  moral 
resemblance  of  the  portraits.  On  two  points  only 
have  they,  in  my  presence,  made  any  reservations. 
One  man  said  to  me :  "  Jean  Oberle  did  wrong  to 
desert ;  his  duty  was  to  remain  at  home  to  save 
Alsace."  I  replied  that  Jean  Oberle  found  him- 
self involved  in  a  terrible  tragedy,  and  that  the 


Sainte-Odile  and  Obernai  75 


drama  conceived  by  M.  Rene  Bazin  could  have 
no  other  ending  than  that  desertion.  Another 
said:  " There  have  been  in  Alsace  cases  of  going 
over  to  the  enemy,  but  there  is  not  a  single  Al- 
satian manufacturer  who  would  have  committed 
all  the  treasons  of  Joseph  Oberle.  There  is  for 
example,  M.  X.  .  .  . ;  he  had  accepted  honors 
and  dignities  from  the  Empire,  but  he  would  not 
allow  anyone  to  speak  German  in  his  house,  and 
he  has  never  invited  a  German  officer  to  his  table. 
Those  who  are  always  cited  as  perfect  converts 
were  never  true  Alsatians,  attached  to  their 
country;  they  had  the  manners  and  the  souls 
of  lackeys  long  trained  to  servility."  I  replied 
that  a  novelist  is  obliged  to  create  types,  that 
M.  Rene  Bazin  has  made  Joseph  Oberle  the 
type  of  a  renegade,  and  that  he  had,  in  inventing 
him,  to  combine  various  observations. 

In  the  final  analysis,  these  two  criticisms  lead 
to  the  same  reproach,  which  is  a  little  vain  when 
one  addresses  it  to  a  novelist,  that  of  having 
written  a  romance.  Alsace,  which  has  read  Les 
Oberle,  is  not  deceived  by  it.  It  was  pleased  that 
a  French  writer  should  have  spoken  so  well  of  its 
grief  and  its  fidelity. 

Obernai.  —  Each  time  that  one  leaves  the 
Vosges  for  the  plain,  in  Upper  Alsace,  there  is 


76  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  same  succession  of  pictures :  forests  of  firs, 
then  a  cool  and  narrow  valley,  where  a  little  river 
turns  the  mill  wheels,  then  vineyards,  and  finally, 
at  the  foot  of  the  last  hill,  the  watchtowers  and 
belfries  of  a  little  city.  When  we  descend  from 
Sainte-Odile,  the  valley  is  called  the  Klingenthal, 
the  river  the  Ehn,  the  little  city  Obernai.  This 
one  is  charming,  even  among  all  its  beautiful 
sisters. 

It  bears  a  name  whose  sound  is  soft  and  clear. 
It  was  the  birthplace  of  Saint  Odile,  daughter  of 
Atticus,  Duke  of  Alsace.  It  has  great  fortifica- 
tions of  the  thirteenth  century,  which  were  de- 
fended against  the  English  companies,  against 
the  Armagnacs,  and  against  the  rebellious  peas- 
ants. It  ravishes  the  ear,  the  eye,  and  the  im- 
agination. 

It  possesses  an  elegant  belfry,  a  well  whose 
stone  baldachin  is  sustained  by  three  delicately 
ornamented  Corinthian  columns,  a  new  church 
which,  though  heavy  and  ungraceful,  contains  a 
magnificent  altar  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Its 
Hotel  de  Ville  is  a  marvel,  where,  as  in  the  other 
monuments  of  Obernai,  the  late  Gothic  and  the 
early  Renaissance  harmonize  in  the  most  un- 
expected and  delicious  fashion :  the  projecting 
loggia  of  the  fagade  is  one  of  the  finest  to  be  seen 
in  Alsace ;  the  wrought  iron  fittings  of  the  doors 


A  WELL  AT  OBERNAI 


Sainte-Odile  and  Obernai  77 


are  extraordinarily  complicated ;  and  in  the  former 
Hall  of  Justice,  an  uninspired  painter  has  repre- 
sented on  the  walls  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament 
symbolizing  the  Ten  Commandments.  In  a  cellar 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  are  stored  the  archives  of 
Obernai :  a  historian,  Canon  Gyss,  has  classified 
the  23,000  documents,  of  which  the  most  famous, 
if  not  the  most  reliable,  is  the  family  tree  of  Atticus, 
father  of  Saint  Odile. 

The  chapel  of  the  hospital  of  Obernai  contains 
some  old  pictures  of  the  Alsatian  school;  one  of 
them  being  signed  :  "  1508.  H.  H."  It  has  been 
attributed  to  Hans  Holbein,  but  incorrectly. 


VI 


S  A  VERNE.  —  MARMOUTIER.  —  BIRCKEN- 
WALD.  —  SAINT-JEAN-DES-CHOUX 

S A  VERNE.  —  A  great  village  around  a 
great  barrack,  which  was,  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  one  of  the  most  superb 
palaces  of  France,  that  of  the  Cardinals  de  Rohan, 
Prince  Bishops  of  Strasburg. 

An  officer  very  courteously  refused  to  allow  me 
to  enter  the  barrack.  So  I  do  not  know  whether, 
within  the  edifice,  vestiges  of  the  past  have  sur- 
vived its  degradations,  restorations,  and  altera- 
tions. Of  the  chateau  we  see  today  only  two 
grand  facades  decorated  with  pilasters,  the  balus- 
traded  terraces  rising  at  the  edge  of  the  Marne- 
Rhine  canal,  and  a  quincunx  planted  with  great 
trees,  the  only  remnant  of  the  former  garden 
(Note  11).  But  this  is  sufficient  to  recall  to  our 
imagination  the  magnificences,  quite  in  the  style 
of  Versailles,  which  gave  a  French  imprint  to 
Alsatian  taste  before  the  wars  of  the  Revolution 
and  the  Empire  had  thus  impressed  its  heart. 
Around  Saverne,  the  countryside  is  fresh,  smil- 

78 


79 


ing,  and  diversified.  It  is  no  longer  the  landscape 
of  Upper  Alsace,  with  its  violent  and  admirable 
contrasts :  the  plain  no  longer  comes,  smooth  as 
a  great  lake,  to  end  at  the  edge  of  an  abrupt  slope ; 
the  mountains  cease  to  present  a  brusque  and 
steep  glacis,  and  the  forest  no  longer  resembles 
an  army  marching  in  serried  ranks  to  the  escalade 
of  the  crests.  The  plain  is  rolling,  hollowed  into 
wide  valleys,  and  raised  in  little  hills ;  the  moun- 
tains slope  gently;  at  the  moment  of  advancing 
to  the  assault,  the  forest  leaves  stragglers  behind 
it,  and  these  groups  of  trees  form  islands  of  ver- 
dure in  the  midst  of  the  harvests. 

Marmoutier.  —  Here  is  the  most  ancient  of 
the  abbeys  of  Alsace ;  here  is  also  one  of  its  most 
beautiful  and  strangest  churches.  The  fagade  is 
of  the  most  virile  and  solid  Romanesque.  It  is 
pierced  by  a  low  doorway  with  three  arches. 
Between  two  octagonal  towers  rises  a  stout, 
square  belfry.  The  nave  has  pointed  arches. 
The  choir  was  constructed  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  in  a  type  of  Gothic  which  makes  us  more 
indulgent  to  the  Gothic  of  nineteenth  century 
architects.  (One  often  finds  in  the  Alsatian 
churches  these  pointed  arches  of  the  time  of 
Louis  XV.)  But  this  ill-conceived  choir  is  orna- 
mented with  the  rarest,  finest,  most  exquisite 


80  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


wood  carvings,  which  are  decidedly  eighteenth 
century  and  in  its  best  style.  What  beautiful 
panels,  carved  with  trophies  composed  of  the 
attributes  of  the  arts,  of  religion,  and  of  poetry! 
What  adorable  garlands  of  flowers  and  foliage! 
All  around  the  choir,  upon  the  entablature  over 
these  carvings,  is  a  series  of  statuettes,  represent- 
ing the  games  of  children :  each  of  these  groups 
is  a  masterpiece  of  grace.  I  do  not  know  what 
sculptor  executed  this  marvelous  interior.  But 
I  imagine  that  a  Rohan  became  interested  in  the 
monks  of  Marmoutier  and  made  them  this  royal 
gift.  .  .  .  Marmoutier !  it  is  the  name  of  the 
Abbey  in  Touraine  where  Louis  de  Rohan  re- 
ceived from  Louis  XVI  permission  to  retire  and 
forget  the  frosts  and  melancholies  of  his  holy 
office. 

Birckenwald.  —  The  chateau  is  an  enigma. 
The  date  of  its  construction  is  not  in  doubt;  it 
is  cut  in  the  stone  of  the  walls :  1562.  We  also 
know  the  name  of  the  nobleman  who  built  it : 
Nicolas  Jacques  dTngersheim.  But  where  did 
this  Alsatian  get  the  idea  of  building  a  chateau 
which  resembles  no  other  in  Alsace? 

Imagine  a  building  of  a  single  story,  flanked 
with  towers,  whose  irregular  plan  recalls  in  a 
striking  fashion  that  of  the  chateaux  of  the  pure 


PORTRAIT  OF  LOUIS  XVI 


Birckenwald 


81 


French  Renaissance.  But  it  is  especially  in  the 
decoration  that  the  resemblance  is  apparent.  The 
doors  and  windows  are  framed  with  emblems, 
foliage  and  allegories  quite  like  those  which  we 
see  upon  the  walls  of  sixteenth  century  monu- 
ments in  Touraine  or  in  Normandy.  Carved  in 
the  red  sandstone  of  the  Vosges,  these  ornaments 
assume  a  quite  different  appearance  and  the  gar- 
lands which  surround  the  enormous  round  win- 
dows of  the  chateau  have  a  somewhat  Germanic 
heaviness.  .  .  .  However,  it  would  not  be  sur- 
prising if  a  French  architect  had  come  to  Bircken- 
wald in  1562. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  fief  of  Bircken- 
wald, which  was  an  appanage  of  the  monastery 
of  Andlau,  was  given  by  the  abbess  to  a  certain 
Norman  gentleman,  Gabriel  du  Terrier,  whom 
Louis  XIII  had  named  Governor  of  Saverne. 
This  Norman  must  have  found  himself  at  home 
at  Birckenwald ;  and  even  if  he  did  not  recognize 
the  French  style  of  his  dwelling,  he  must  have 
experienced  a  certain  pleasure  in  discovering  out- 
side his  windows  a  familiar  landscape.  In  fact, 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  the  site  is  marvelously 
adapted  to  the  aspect  of  the  chateau.  Beyond  a 
little  winding  river  there  is  a  great  prairie  rising 
in  a  gentle  slope  to  a  wood  which  bounds  the 
distant  horizon,  so  that  we  ask  whence  comes 


82 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


this  unexpected  harmony  between  the  architecture 
and  its  setting. 

Saint-Jean-des-Choux.  —  I  asked  permission 
to  enter  the  rectory,  where  are  preserved  some 
beautiful  tapestries  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  monastery  of  Saint- 
Jean-des-Choux.  The  cure  was  absent.  One  of 
the  sisters  of  the  school  opened  the  door  of  the 
presbytery  for  me,  and  in  a  very  gentle  voice,  in 
the  purest  French,  explained  to  me  the  subject  of 
the  tapestries.  She  described  them  at  great 
length.  Finally,  she  insisted  on  taking  me  into 
the  church,  made  me  admire  the  old  wrought  iron 
hinges  of  the  great  door,  and  led  me  into  the  little 
garden  which  has  replaced  the  cemetery  around 
the  structure.  There  she  showed  me  the  gar- 
goyles of  the  apse,  and  pointed  out,  among  clusters 
of  poppies,  the  foundations  of  the  cloister ;  finally, 
she  named  for  me  all  the  villages  scattered  in  the 
valley  of  the  Zorn.  ...  I  thanked  her.  "Do 
not  thank  me,"  she  said  simply.  "Do  not  thank 
me"  ;  that  means  :  I  am  satisfied  with  the  oppor- 
tunity of  speaking  French  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
And  the  holy  daughter  of  Alsace  returned  to  her 
schoolroom,  where  she  taught  German  to  the  little 
Alsatians  because  such  was  the  law. 


VII 


ALSACE  IN  1903 

SOME  travelers  who  visit  Strasburg  find 
there  the  ruins  of  an  old  Alsatian  town 
and  the  evident  prosperity  of  a  great 
German  city.  They  traverse  with  admiration  the 
new  quarters  crowded  with  gorgeous  palaces :  the 
palace  of  the  Emperor,  the  palace  of  the  Delega- 
tion, the  palace  of  the  University,  the  palace  of 
the  Posts.  Everywhere,  in  the  fagades  of  the 
buildings,  as  well  as  in  the  plan  of  the  transformed 
city,  they  recognize  the  peculiar  taste  of  modern 
Germany,  its  craze  for  new-antique,  its  mania 
for  fresco  painting,  and  especially  its  passion  for 
the  colossal.  They  visit  the  churches,  like  Saint 
Peter  the  Younger,  motley  with  startling  colors, 
lurid,  masterpieces  of  the  cockatoo  style,  and 
loaded  with  all  kinds  of  imitations,  even  to  counter- 
feit tombstones.  They  survey  the  overwhelming 
massiveness  of  banking-houses  and  of  those  pre- 
tentious department  stores,  which  German  archi- 
tects have  exhausted  their  ingenuity  in  clumsily 
decorating  with  the  most  outlandish  inventions  of 


84  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  modern  style.  They  see  old  Strasburg  me- 
thodically devastated  by  politics  and  speculation. 
They  stop  in  the  Place  du  Brogue,  which  had 
preserved  its  appearance  of  an  old  French  square, 
and  which  is  now  marked,  it  also,  with  the  Ger- 
man stamp,  since  they  have  erected  there  the 
strange  monument  in  which  the  sculptor  Hilde- 
brand  has  symbolized  the  Rhine  by  a  trivial, 
clumsy,  and  hip-shot  personage,  doubtless  in- 
spired by  the  figures  of  Boecklin,  but  whose 
incongruous  posture  excites  the  raillery  of  the 
Strasburgers.  They  notice  that  the  signs  of  all 
the  shops  are  written  in  German  (the  law  for- 
bids French  signs).  They  enter  German  beer 
gardens.  They  hear  the  loud  and  fiery  speech 
of  the  conquerors.  They  take  for  resignation 
the  silent  reserve  of  the  annexed.  .  .  .  Behind 
this  German  front,  they  do  not  discern  the  reality ; 
and  they  speak,  or  even  write,  grievous  follies 
about  the  Germanization  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 

How  easy,  however,  it  is  to  discern  this  reality 
by  traveling  through  the  country  and  the  small 
Alsatian  towns !  In  the  course  of  these  rambles 
I  have  already  given  you  glimpses  of  it.  But, 
before  leaving  Alsace,  I  wish  to  insist  upon  it. 

The  Alsatians  have  given  up  the  ferocious  and 
revolutionary  protestation,  to  which  they  gave 


Alsace  in  1903 


85 


vent  during  the  years  following  the  War  of  1870. 
They  loyally  endeavor  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  a  situation  which  is  odious  to  them,  but  which 
they  are  unable  to  change.  They  do  not  turn 
toward  the  France  of  today,  for  they  know  that 
it  is  obstinately  pacific.  They  have  no  illusions 
as  to  men  and  events  beyond  the  Vosges.  They 
have  never  believed  in  the  theatrical  speeches  and 
the  platform  chauvinism  by  which  some  politi- 
cians formerly  believed  they  could  console  their 
grief.  They  do  not  attach  a  very  great  impor- 
tance to  the  dreams  of  humanitarians  who  set 
their  wits  to  work  to  discover  the  "  pacific  solu- 
tion." They  have  confidence  in  the  future ;  but 
they  count  only  on  time  and  events.  So,  as  they 
wish,  while  waiting,  to  live,  develop  their  activity, 
exercise  their  energy,  and  exploit  their  riches, 
they  are  naturally  forced  to  make  terms  with 
those  who  govern  them. 

Besides,  since  the  law  of  dictatorship  has  been 
abrogated,  the  atmosphere  has  become  more 
breathable  in  Alsace.  The  Prussian  police  has 
not  willingly  given  up  the  privileges  which  the 
former  legislation  gave  it,  and  it  continues,  ac- 
cording to  its  tradition,  to  worry  suspects  and  to 
encourage  informers,  but  it  is  no  longer  all- 
powerful.  The  press  is  still  governed  by  com- 
plicated rules  which  render  its  liberty  precarious  : 


86  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


fixed  in  principle  by  the  laws  of  the  Empire,  its 
rights  are  restrained  in  practice  by  local  police 
ordinances  in  regard  to  posting,  distribution,  sales 
in  bookshops,  and  so  forth  .  .  .,  and  the  old 
French  laws  have  been  kept  in  force :  but  every 
German  citizen  can  today,  without  obtaining  per- 
mission, found,  in  Alsace-Lorraine,  a  periodical  in 
any  language,  even  in  French,  and  the  only  for- 
mality imposed  upon  him  is  the  filing  of  a  bond. 
As  to  the  right  of  assembly,  it  is  regulated  by  a 
French  law  of  June  6,  1868. 

Alsace  saw  with  joy  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
terror  under  which  it  lived  for  twenty  years 
and  has  used  the  semi-liberty  which  was  finally 
given  it.  Its  vows  and  complaints  then  took  a 
different  tone.  The  relations  between  the  con- 
querors and  the  conquered  were  less  strained. 
The  first  were  less  tyrannical ;  the  latter  were 
less  intractable. 

For  five  years  the  attitude  of  the  Alsatians 
toward  the  Germans  has  been  modified,  but  the 
attitude  only.  The  depth  of  their  hearts  has  not 
changed. 

Today,  as  yesterday,  as  always,  the  Alsatians 
do  not  wish  to  be  German.  They  have  witnessed 
the  tremendous  effort  of  Germany  since  1871 ; 
they  have  seen  close  at  hand  the  extraordinary 
development  of  its  industry  and  its  commerce; 


Alsace  in  1903 


87 


they  have  admired  the  spirit  of  enterprise  of  its 
traders,  the  spirit  of  order  and  of  method  of  its 
administrators,  the  wisdom  of  its  people,  the 
strength  of  its  army,  and  there  were  between 
them  and  Germany  too  many  bonds  of  relation- 
ship to  allow  them  to  remain  insensible  of  the 
efforts  of  the  scientists,  writers,  and  artists  of  the 
Germanic  race.  .  .  .  But,  with  a  coolness  which 
we  have  not  always  shown,  we  Frenchmen  of 
France,  they  have  not  allowed  themselves  to  be 
dazzled  by  this  foreign  prestige.  Alsatians  they 
are,  Alsatians  they  will  remain. 

Against  the  brutalities  of  the  Prussian  gen- 
darmes and  against  the  scientific  theories  of  the 
university  professors,  they  stubbornly  maintain 
their  rights  and  their  nationality.  Among  the 
peasants  and  the  populace  the  religion  of  the 
past  shows  itself  in  a  confused  but  irresistible 
instinct,  which  forces  them  to  retain  their  old 
manners,  their  old  customs,  and  their  old  houses. 
The  educated  men  oppose  to  the  doctors  of  Pan- 
germanism  the  history  of  the  origins  of  Alsace, 
they  ransack  the  tumuli  of  the  aborigines,  open 
the  mortuaries  of  the  Middle  Ages,  at  Dambach, 
at  Saverne,  at  Kaysersberg,  obtain  the  expert 
testimony  of  scientists,  and  prove  that  through- 
out the  ages,  despite  the  invaders  coming  from 
everywhere,  the  same  race  has  always  populated 


88  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  region  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Vosges; 
that  this  race,  as  shown  by  the  form  of  its  round, 
wide,  and  high  skull,  belongs  to  the  Celtic  type, 
and  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  Germans. 
They  also  invoke  the  antiquity  of  Alsatian  cul- 
ture; they  show  the  innumerable  witnesses  of  it 
which  litter  the  soil  of  the  province,  all  these 
remnants  of  statues  and  of  Gallo-Roman  bas- 
reliefs,  all  these  vestiges  of  the  great  Latin  civiliza- 
tion which  nourished  in  the  plain  of  Alsace  while 
the  conquerors  of  today  lived  their  life  of  savages 
in  the  marshes  of  the  Vistula. 

All,  workmen,  peasants,  scientists,  wish  to  re- 
tain their  traditions,  their  tastes,  their  culture, 
which  are  neither  the  traditions,  the  tastes,  nor 
the  culture  of  their  masters.  So  wherever  the 
Germans  have  installed  themselves,  two  distinct 
societies  have  arisen,  each  with  its  own  life,  its 
promenades,  its  restaurants,  and  its  associations. 
In  Germany  the  army  lives,  in  general,  apart  from 
the  civil  population;  here,  one  would  say  that 
it  camps  in  an  enemy  country.  A  few  Alsatians 
have  married  German  women.  But  infinitely 
rare  are  the  Alsatian  women  who  have  married 
Germans :  the  women  show  themselves  the  most 
bitter  in  the  protestation.  There  are  Alsatians 
who  have  allied  themselves  with  the  Germans  by 
interest ;  there  are  none  who  have  done  so  from 


Alsace  in  1903 


89 


sympathy.  This  is  the  state  of  Alsace,  thirty- 
three  years  after  the  conquest ! 

We  are  stupefied  by  this  example  of  fidelity, 
unique  in  the  history  of  peoples,  especially  when 
we  remember  that  to  form  intellects  and  trans- 
form manners  a  modern  state  has  at  its  disposal 
two  powerful  auxiliaries,  the  school  and  the  army. 
Germany  thought  that  the  two  together  would 
overcome  Alsatian  persistence.    She  was  deceived. 

In  school  the  Alsatian  child  learns  the  German 
language  and  history.  Never  a  word  of  French  is 
spoken  before  him,  and  all  the  events  of  the  past 
are  presented  to  him  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
glorify  the  fatherland  of  today  and  to  humiliate 
that  of  yesterday.  The  teachers  are  strictly 
supervised.  But  the  family  quickly  effaces  the 
imprint  of  the  school.  The  mother  forbids  her 
child  to  sing  at  home  the  German  songs  which 
the  teacher  has  taught  him.  The  father,  if  he 
knows  French,  teaches  it  to  his  son.  ...  In 
1903,  French  was  spoken  as  much  as,  and  perhaps 
more  than,  it  was  spoken  in  1870.  If,  perchance, 
we  question  a  passer-by,  and  he  can  only  speak  the 
dialect,  he  immediately  goes  to  find  some  one  who 
knows  French,  and  the  first  care  of  the  latter  is 
to  apologize  for  the  ignorance  of  his  countryman. 
Among  the  questions  asked  of  the  inhabitants  at 
each  census  is  the  following:   "What  is  your 


90  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


mother  tongue?"  To  answer,  "French,"  is  to 
awaken  the  suspicion  of  the  authorities ;  so  many 
of  the  annexed  prefer  to  falsify  the  statistics  and 
live  undisturbed.  Nevertheless,  in  the  census  of 
1895,  159,732  persons  declared  that  French  was 
their  mother  tongue.  In  1900,  this  number  rose 
to  198,173.  Figures  may  lie;  but  I  doubt  that 
anyone  can  draw  from  this  an  argument  to  prove 
the  Germanization  of  Alsace  (Note  12). 

In  transforming  the  Alsatian,  Prussian  military 
discipline  is  no  more  efficacious  than  its  instruction 
in  school.  The  one-year  volunteers,  free  to  choose 
their  garrison,  fulfill  their  service  in  their  own  prov- 
ince, that  is  to  say  in  their  home  surroundings,  near 
their  families  and  their  friends.  As  to  the  recruits, 
they  are  sent  to  Prussia.  They  are  at  the  age 
when  man  is  most  submissive  to  the  law  of  imita- 
tion. The  Alsatian,  therefore,  returns  from  the 
barracks  with  the  carriage  of  a  German  soldier, 
shoulders  held  back,  abdomen  flat,  step  jerky,  hair 
smooth  and  parted  absolutely  in  the  middle,  mus- 
tache waxed,  and  handles  his  cane  like  a  Prussian. 
But  this  metamorphosis  does  not  last  long.  His 
country  takes  back  its  man.  A  year  later,  body 
and  soul  have  become  Alsatian ;  and  in  this  peas- 
ant with  slow,  solid,  and  free  step  whom  we  meet 
on  summer  Sundays  upon  the  roads  of  the  Vosges, 
wearing  a  silk  hat,  his  black  overcoat  folded  over 


Alsace  in  1903 


91 


his  arm,  it  is  impossible  to  recognize  a  Prussian 
infantryman. 

Statistics,  the  confidences  of  the  annexed  popu- 
lation, their  way  of  living,  their  words  and  their 
actions,  are  still  only  feeble  indications  of  the 
antipathy  which  separates  the  Alsatians  from 
Germany.  The  great  proof  is  this  inescapable 
fact  that  since  1873,  the  latest  date  for  choice  of 
citizenship,  emigration  has  not  ceased.  From  1871 
to  1890,  220,000  deserters  crossed  the  frontier  to 
avoid  serving  in  the  German  army ;  from  1890  to 
1900,  there  were  each  year  from  4,000  to  5,000 ; 
since  1900  from  3,000  to  4,000.  Nothing  discour- 
ages them,  neither  the  thought  that  they  leave  their 
homes  forever,  nor  the  prospect  of  being,  as  soon 
as  they  arrive  in  France,  forced  into  the  Foreign 
Legion,  among  the  deserters  of  all  countries;  for 
even  if,  since  1889,  the  law  permits  young  Alsa- 
tians to  recover  French  citizenship  by  a  simple 
declaration,  and  to  enter  directly  either  into  our 
regiments  or  into  our  military  schools,  this  law 
is  evaded,  and,  "  under  pretext  that  the  young 
volunteers  do  not  bring  all  the  necessary  and  re- 
quired papers,  the  military  officials  do  not  hesitate 
to  incorporate  them  in  the  Foreign  Legion,  and  to 
send  them  to  die  prematurely  in  the  colonies, 
when  they  might  form  such  an  excellent  nucleus 
of  professional  soldiers  in  our  national  army." 


92  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


(Letter  of  M.  H.  Keller,  Ex-deputy  of  the  Haut- 
Rhin,  in  the  Libre  Parole,  March  4,  1902.) 

By  this  constant  exodus,  the  annexed  show  that 
they  cannot  accept  German  sovereignty  (Note  13). 

But  is  this  emigration  without  peril  for  the 
existence  of  Alsatian  nationality?  The  Alsatians 
today  ask  themselves  this  question  with  anxiety. 
I  have  already  related  the  apprehensions  of  the 
people  of  Mulhouse,  who  foresee  the  day  when 
their  great  factories  will  lack  men.  And  this  is 
not  the  only  danger.  Since  1871,  450,000  Al- 
satians and  Lorrainers  have  abandoned  their 
country.  Those  who  remain  can  neither  be  in- 
timidated nor  seduced ;  but,  becoming  each  day 
less  numerous,  they  feel  that  their  strength  of 
resistance  decreases.  And  350,000  Germans  have 
taken  the  place  of  the  emigrants ;  350,000  out  of 
a  population  of  1,700,000!  (Note  14.)  So  the 
"good  Alsatians"  now  try  to  keep  their  country- 
men at  home.  The  password  which  they  transmit 
among  themselves  is  no  longer  to  depart,  but  to 
fight  on  the  spot,  to  keep  Alsace  Alsatian. 

In  the  mind  of  these  men  there  is  no  question 
either  of  violence  or  of  revolt  or  of  conspiracy. 
But  they  intend  to  guard  their  soil  and  their 
traditions.  To  show  you  what  they  wish  and 
what  they  hope,  I  will  insert  a  few  lines  drawn 
from  the  prospectus  of  a  periodical  which  a  group 


Alsace  in  1903 


of  young  Alsatians  founded  at  Strasburg  in  1898, 
the  Revue  Alsacienne  illustree  (Note  15)  : 

"  There  is  a  physical  and  moral  well-being  which 
results  from  plunging  into  one's  natural  sur- 
roundings. \ 

\  "In  fact,  we  all  feel  what  we  wish  to  express 
when  we  define  one  of  ourselves  by  saying :  1  He 
is  an  old  Alsatian!  He  is  a  true  type  of  old 
Alsace!'  And  we  feel  equally  that  one  of  our 
compatriots  is  lost  to  us  if  we  must  say  of  him, 
shaking  our  heads  :  '  He  is  no  longer  an  Alsatian ! ' 

"Among  all  Alsatians  this  innate  sentiment  of 
ancestral  piety  and  attachment  to  the  soil  exists, 
but  it  is  not  enough  to  remain  in  this  sentimental 
phase  in  thinking  about  Alsace :  it  is  necessary 
that  our  reasons  for  loving  our  native  land  and  our 
dead  should  be  tangible  to  us,  and  it  is  necessary 
that  we  should  understand  in  what  way  we  can  best 
free,  maintain,  and  prolong  Alsatian  tradition. 

' 1 .  .  .  We  should  wish  especially  that,  by  being 
better  informed  about  his  nationality,  every  son 
of  Alsace  might  contribute  more  surely  to  enrich 
it. 

"For  the  assertion  that  a  thing  is  good  and  true 
must  always  be  proved  by  an  answer  to  this 
question :  1  In  what  respect  is  this  thing  good  and 
true?' 

"Things  are  good  or  true  for  Alsatians  only  if 


94 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


they  are  the  development  of  an  Alsatian  germ. 
At  least,  if  they  are  not  the  fruit  of  our  race,  they 
must  accept  the  conditions  of  our  moral  climate ; 
yes,  let  them  modify  themselves  according  to  the 
aspect,  according  to  the  climate,  there  is  no  other 
word,  which  centuries  of  Alsatian  civilization  have 
made  for  us." 

We  recognize  here  some  of  the  formulas  dear  to 
M.  Maurice  Barres.  They  express  marvelously 
the  desire  of  those  who  have  taken  root  in  Alsace. 

To  thus  defend  the  soul  and  the  soil  of  their 
country,  the  Alsatians  must  be  closely  united. 
Up  to  the  present  time  nothing  had  troubled 
their  union.  They  had  witnessed  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes through  which  France  has  gone,  in  its 
political  miseries,  in  its  parliamentary  scandals, 
without  such  a  spectacle  ever  rendering  less 
odious  to  them  their  quality  of  German  citizens. 
Protestants,  Catholics,  Liberals,  all  were  united 
in  placing  the  cause  of  Alsace  before  party  in- 
terests. The  Dreyfus  affair  had  divided  them 
and  terrible  dissensions  had  broken  out  between 
families,  sects,  and  groups,  just  as  in  France,  but 
the  " great  question"  had  been  reserved.  " Be- 
sides," said  an  Alsatian  to  me,  "this  was  for  us 
another  way  of  living  French  life."  Within  a 
year,  there  have  appeared  grave  signs  that  the 
union  is  breaking ;  the  fasces  begin  to  separate. 


Alsace  in  1903 


95 


The  anti-clerical  policy  of  the  French  ministry 
has  caused  terrible  revulsions  beyond  the  Vosges. 
It  has  revolted  the  conscience  of  the  Catholic 
priests,  who  were  yesterday  the  most  ardent  of 
the  protesters. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Association  of  Alsatian 
Students  of  the  University  of  Strasburg  holds  a 
banquet  every  year :  there  are  no  speeches ;  but, 
at  the  end  of  the  dinner,  the  president  is  accus- 
tomed to  drink  to  free  Alsace,  using  the  traditional 
formula;  then  the  guests  form  a  procession  in 
single  file,  and  bareheaded,  in  the  deepest  silence, 
march  three  times  around  the  statue  of  Kl£ber. 
This  year,  however,  for  the  habitual  toast  the 
president  substituted  this:  "To  liberal  Alsace!" 

Such  are  the  germs  of  discord  which  the  anti- 
clericals  of  France  have  thrown  among  a  people 
which  until  recently  was  so  profoundly  united 
by  common  experiences  and  hopes.  .  .  .  And 
what  increases  still  more  the  uneasiness  of  the 
"good  Alsatians"  is  the  skill  with  which  the 
German  government  profited  by  the  event.  In 
these  circumstances  the  Prussian  officials  who  ad- 
minister the  annexed  provinces  might  have  been 
much  embarrassed  :  they  are  Protestants,  that  is, 
ill-disposed  to  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  they  are 
faithful  to  the  tradition  of  Bismarck,  that  is  to 
say,  ill-prepared  to  practice  conciliation.  But 


96  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


without  caring  for  their  astonishment  or  their 
prejudices,  Wilhelm  II  here  played  his  own 
politics  over  their  heads;  he  endeavored  to  se- 
duce his  opponents  and  weaken  their  resistance. 
That  is  why  the  little  seminary  of  Zillisheim, 
which  passed  for  a  nursery  of  protesters,  has  un- 
expectedly just  received  the  right  to  name  one- 
year  volunteers,  a  privilege  reserved  for  govern- 
ment schools. 

For  the  first  time,  the  national  sentiment  of 
Alsace  has  wavered.  It  is  France  and  France 
alone  which  is  responsible  for  it,  and  she  must 
be  the  last  to  complain  of  it.  It  is  foolish,  I 
know,  to  hope  that  considerations  of  this  kind  can 
touch  our  politicians.  The  Alsatians  who  have 
told  me  their  anxieties  depend,  to  reestablish  the 
union,  solely  upon  the  good  sense  of  their  country- 
men. After  thirty  years  of  heroism,  a  people 
cannot  deny  a  cause  which  has  cost  it  so  many 
sacrifices  and  so  many  tears. 

Perhaps  you  will  accuse  me  of  having  seen 
Alsace  with  biased  eyes,  with  French  eyes.  .  .  . 
I  ask  only  that  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  look 
at  a  pamphlet  which  recently  appeared,  in  which 
a  Swede,  Dr.  Anton  Nystrom,  has  collected 
articles  which  he  published  in  a  Swedish  news- 
paper (Note  16).  This  foreigner  traversed  Alsace, 
consulted  official  publications,  and  questioned  Ger- 


Alsace  in  1903 


97 


mans  and  Alsatians,  and  here  is  the  conclusion  of 
his  investigation:  "The  conflict  is  certainly  not 
in  a  bitter  state.  But  it  is  none  the  less  evident 
that  the  majority  of  the  annexed  people  does  not 
believe  in  the  least  that  it  is  reunited  to  the  bosom 
of  its  national  family,  but  aspires,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  return  to  France,  which  it  considers  as 
its  true  fatherland." 

An  Alsatian  urged  me  not  to  leave  Alsace  with- 
out going  to  Neu wilier.  "This  place/'  he  said 
to  me,  " synthesizes  the  whole  past  of  Alsace: 
castle,  church,  ancient  abbey,  town  wall,  historic 
cemeteries,  ancient  mansions,  fertile  plain,  and 
wooded  hill :  all  are  united  there."  And  he  him- 
self volunteered  to  act  as  my  guide.  With  him, 
I  have  seen  the  church  whose  Romanesque  choir, 
Gothic  nave,  and  eighteenth-century  fagade  sum- 
marize the  history  of  religious  architecture  in 
Alsace ;  I  have  seen  the  great  prairies  and  the 
charming  houses,  the  squares  and  the  fountains 
of  Neu  wilier.  With  him  I  have  visited  the  flower- 
grown  cemetery,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  crowned 
with  the  ruins  of  the  Castle  of  Herrenstein,  and  I 
have  read  the  inscriptions  on  its  tombs. 

This  cemetery  is  a  necropolis  of  French  soldiers. 
In  its  midst,  upon  a  pedestal  ornamented  with  a 
medallion  and  military  emblems,  rises  a  marble 


98  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


column  surmounted  by  an  urn  :  it  is  the  tomb  of 
Marshal  Clarke,  Duke  of  Feltre,  Count  of  Hune- 
bourg.  We  read  there:  " Always  faithful  to 
honor  and  duty,  he  rose  by  merit  alone  to  high 
employ,  and  there  distinguished  himself  by  his 
zeal  and  his  integrity ;  he  was  a  good  father,  a 
good  husband,  a  good  friend ;  after  having  sup- 
ported with  courage  and  truly  Christian  resigna- 
tion the  sorrows  of  a  long  and  cruel  malady,  etc." 
This  commonplace  and  colorless  epitaph  suffi- 
ciently shows  the  embarrassment  of  those  who 
had  to  prepare  it,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XVIII : 
Clarke's  career  had  been  so  varied ! 

I  prefer  the  epitaph  of  Charles  Bernard  Anni- 
bal,  Baron  of  Reisenbach,  retired  Colonel  of  In- 
fantry, deceased  in  1861,  and  interred  under  a 
Gothic  pinnacle.  It  is  thus  conceived  :  ' 1  Wagram, 
Moscowa,  Moscow,  Krasnoe,  Liitzen,  Bautzen, 
Jauer,  Leipzig,  Hanau,  Champaubert,  Vauchamps, 
Montmirail,  Fere-Champenoise,  Paris,  Essonnes. 
—  Wars  of  Spain  (1825)  and  of  Algeria  (1836- 
1837)." 

A  pile  of  blocks  of  granite,  upon  which  are 
placed  a  cross,  a  howitzer,  cannon  balls,  arms, 
and  the  Legion  of  Honor,  marks  the  sepulcher 
of  Baron  Dorsner,  Lieutenant  General  of  Artillery. 

Beyond,  under  a  tombstone  sculptured  with 
epaulettes,  laurels,  swords,  and  a  cross,  rests 


Alsace  in  1903 


99 


Augustin  Pradal,  General  of  Artillery,  Commander 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  .  .  .  And  here  are  also 
the  mausoleums  of  Colonel  de  Mandeville,  of  the 
Chevalier  Leopold  Elis6e  Scherb,  Orderly  Officer 
of  the  Emperor,  of  Simon  Dominique  Stockle, 
First  Lieutenant  of  Light  Infantry.  .  .  .  ' 

When  I  had  finished  copying  some  of  these 
inscriptions,  my  companion  said  to  me:  " To- 
day, in  1903,  there  are  still  in  France  a  hundred 
and  forty  Alsatian  generals,  either  active  or  re- 
tired!" 

We  left  the  cemetery.  I  asked,  "And  how 
many  Alsatians  are  there  among  the  officers  of 
Germany  ?" 

" Three.  .  .  .  Listen  if  you  will,  to  the  story 
of  one  of  these  three  officers;  it  will  teach  you 
what  is  meant  among  us  by  the  word  Germaniza- 
tion.  He  is  a  Prussian  sub-lieutenant.  His 
grandfather  served  under  the  first  Napoleon. 
His  father  was  a  landed  proprietor.  Ruined  by 
dissipation  and  the  depreciation  of  landed  prop- 
erty which  followed  the  annexation,  he  offered 
his  services  to  the  German  government  and  ob- 
tained a  position ;  as  the  salary  was  too  small  he 
solicited  another,  better  paid.  They  promised  it 
to  him,  but  on  condition  that  the  grandson  of  the 
general  of  the  Empire  shouM  become  an  officer  in 
the  German  army.    He  accepted.    The  young 


100  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


man  endorsed  the  bargain.  .  .  .  He  rarely  speaks 
German,  which  he  scarcely  knows.  To  hear  him 
speak,  and  especially  to  see  his  bearing,  one  would 
take  him  for  a  young  French  sub-lieutenant.  .  .  . 
One  day  his  step-sister  became  engaged  to  a  young 
Alsatian,  and  the  engagement  was  announced  at 
a  picnic.  The  attendance  was  large,  and  the 
dinner  was  served  on  the  lawn.  After  the  dinner 
the  young  men  amused  themselves  with  athletics 
and  wrestling.  The  sub-lieutenant  wrestled  with 
his  future  brother-in-law,  and  was  thrown.  Then 
he  was  seen  to  become  pale  with  anger  under  his 
adversary's  knee,  and  the  spectators  were  stupefied 
to  hear  him,  a  German  officer,  spit  out  in  the  face 
of  his  adversary  :  '  Filthy  Prussian  ! '  He  could 
not  think  of  a  worse  outrage :  it  was  the  cry  of 
his  race  which  rose  to  his  lips.  .  .  .  They  changed 
his  garrison.  .  .  .  But  you  understand  why  I 
have  brought  you  to  visit  the  dead  who  sleep  in 
the  cemetery  of  Neu wilier.  It  is  they  who  forbid 
us  to  be  Germans. " 


VIII 


WISSEMBOURG 

THERE  are  melancholy  little  cities  whose 
destiny  has  been  ruined  by  the  chances  of 
history.  We  pity  their  disgrace,  but  love 
their  far-away  air  and  their  thoughtful  appearance. 
In  them,  as  in  a  sleeping  pool  which  ripples  under 
a  passing  breeze,  we  see  the  images  of  the  past 
shudder  and  tremble. 

Wissembourg  is  one  of  these  desolate  and  charm- 
ing places.  The  living  muffle  the  sound  of  their 
voices  and  their  footsteps  in  order  not  to  put  to 
flight  its  ghostly  inhabitants. 

It  was  formerly  one  of  the  most  powerful  abbeys 
of  Alsace ;  it  was  sovereign  of  a  vast  canton,  free 
of  all  feudal  service,  and  rich  in  prairies,  forests 
and  vineyards ;  it  practiced  the  right  of  coinage ; 
its  monks  were  masters  of  a  school  celebrated 
throughout  the  Rhine  country;  its  abbot  bore 
the  title  of  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  .  .  . 
Now,  of  the  illustrious  abbey,  there  remain  only 
the  admirable  church  and  the  galleries  of  a  delicate 
cloister. 

101 


102  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


Wissembourg  was  also  a  place  of  war.  In  the 
Middle  Ages  a  town  rose  about  the  monastery,  a 
free  town  which  girded  itself  with  towers  and 
ramparts  to  defend  its  freedom  against  the 
mercenaries  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  the  bands  of 
the  religious  wars,  and  the  peasants  in  revolt. 
Later,  the  crumbling  defences,  which  had  ill 
protected  the  place  against  the  calamities  of  the 
Thirty  Years  War,  were  renewed  by  the  French : 
in  the  eighteenth  century  the  latter  constructed 
modern  fortifications  in  the  style  of  Vauban. 
Everyone  knows  what  happened  August  4,  1870. 
.  .  .  Today,  Wissembourg  is  dismantled  :  toward 
the  south  the  ramparts  form  a  beautiful  terrace 
completely  covered  with  vines,  and  the  ditch 
is  but  a  long  orchard;  toward  the  north  tall 
trees  have  grown  on  the  slopes  of  the  talus  and 
overarch  a  cool  promenade  dominated  here  by  a 
low  squat  tower,  yonder  by  the  ruins  of  a  bastion ; 
the  line  of  the  old  fortifications  thus  forms  a 
smiling  crown  of  verdure  around  the  poor,  silent, 
ruined  town. 

Its  downfall  began  far  back  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  But  it  was  annexation  to  Germany 
which  gave  Wissembourg  this  touching  aspect  of 
desolation.  In  1870,  the  little  sub-prefecture  still 
lived  that  peculiar  life  of  frontier  towns,  animated 
by  the  movement  of  soldiers,  travelers,  and  mer- 


Wissembourg  103 


chants.  The  freshness  of  its  fields,  the  bouquet  of 
its  wines,  the  charm  of  its  old  homes,  attracted 
and  retained  old  folks  desirous  of  living  in  retire- 
ment. When  it  became  German  it  was  suddenly- 
depopulated.  No  city  of  Alsace  was  more  closely 
bound  to  the  past  of  military  France.  For  a 
century  its  sons  had  been  soldiers.  (Even  today 
there  are,  in  our  armies,  more  than  fifty  superior 
officers  born  in  Wissembourg.)  All  the  bourgeois 
houses  emptied.  A  few  Germans  replaced  the 
exiles.  But,  after  thirty-four  years,  the  city  still 
seems  to  be  in  mourning  for  its  vanished  children. 

And  yet,  nowhere  did  the  conqueror  show  as 
much  prudence  as  at  Wissembourg.  During  the 
ten  years  after  the  conquest,  Kreisdirector 
Stichaner  endeavored  to  treat  gently  and  humanely 
the  town  for  which  he  had  acquired  a  true  affection. 
He  tempered  the  rigorous  orders  which  he  received 
from  Berlin,  and  tried  to  disarm  hate  by  wise 
administration.  He  loved  Wissembourg,  its  his- 
tory and  its  memories,  and  he  knew  how  to  flatter 
Alsatian  pride.  Of  all  the  German  functionaries 
who  reigned  over  the  unfortunate  province,  he  is 
perhaps  the  only  one  whose  memory  has  not 
remained  odious  to  the  people  of  Alsace.  They 
have  erected  a  monument  to  him  at  the  gate  of 
the  city,  and  an  old  citizen  of  Wissembourg  said 
to  me,  before  Stichaner's  medallion:  "This  man 


104  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


was  truly  our  friend.  ..."  But  if  the  presence 
of  this  pitiful  and  benevolent  man  rendered  Prus- 
sian domination  less  crushing  for  those  who  re- 
mained at  home,  it  did  not  bring  back  to  their 
fatherland  those  who  had  left  it  forever. 

How  cruel  departure  must  have  seemed  to  these 
exiles !  How  they  must  have  loved  the  touching 
beauty  of  their  town,  its  clean  and  picturesque 
streets,  its  magnificent  abbey,  its  old  dwellings, 
its  pretty  orchards,  its  elegant  gables ! 

We  discover  again  in  Wissembourg  something 
of  the  grace  of  those  little  Flemish  cities,  where 
happy  accidents  of  light  and  season  compose, 
for  the  joy  of  the  eye,  diverse  and  charming  pic- 
tures :  the  towers  of  the  church  arise  between 
two  trees  or  between  two  pointed  gables;  the 
lawns  and  foliage  of  the  old  ramparts  are  framed 
at  the  end  of  a  narrow  street,  between  two  great 
slopes  of  tile ;  the  branches  of  a  garden  swing  above 
a  high  wall  of  red  sandstone ;  the  Lauter  traverses 
the  town  in  many  curves,  here  bathing  the  feet 
of  the  houses,  there  restrained  by  microscopic 
wharves. 

The  beautiful  church  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint 
Paul,  the  Cathedral,  as  they  call  it  at  Wissem- 
bourg, is  flanked  by  a  grand  and  robust  Roman- 
esque tower.    The  choir  and  the  transept  of  the 


Wissembourg  105 


thirteenth  century  and  the  nave  of  perhaps  a 
somewhat  later  period,  are  of  a  pure,  delicate, 
and  sober  pointed  style.  Nevertheless,  the  stone 
of  the  Vosges  has  an  indescribably  grave  and 
tragic  quality,  which  appears  to  be  better  adapted 
to  the  creations  of  Romanesque  than  of  Gothic 
art.  On  the  walls  of  the  church  were  discovered, 
some  forty  years  ago,  concealed  by  a  layer  of 
whitewash,  frescos  whose  age  seems  uncertain. 
Their  coarse,  almost  barbaric  design  grows  fainter 
day  by  day ;  but,  in  the  haze  which  now  envelops 
these  remains,  we  may  still  discover  naive  and 
moving  countenances.  Above  the  crossing  of  the 
transept  rises  a  tower  whose  spire  perished  in  the 
seventeenth  century;  it  has  been  reconstructed 
and  covered  with  slate,  without  noting  that  this 
gray  tower  would,  like  a  false  note,  trouble  the 
marvelous  harmony  of  dull  red  roofs  which  sur- 
rounds the  church  on  all  sides. 

Here  and  there  are  old,  very  old  houses.  A 
ruined  building  still  shows  fine  pointed  arches. 
Why  not  ?  It  is  a  beautiful  palace  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  Vogelsberger  mansion.  We  find  also 
a  great  number  of  those  pretty  Alsatian  houses, 
garlanded  with  vines,  whose  exterior  galleries  are 
framed  of  carved  beams,  and  whose  spiral  stone 
staircases  are  sheltered  by  graceful  turrets.  Not 
a  house  but  has  written  on  the  lintel  of  its  door 


106  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  date  of  its  construction,  and  the  town  thus 
tells  the  passer-by  its  history.  .  .  . 

It  is  necessary  to  seek  these  precious  remnants 
of  the  Alsatian  Renaissance  in  secluded  streets. 
Wissembourg  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  it  is  this  which  gives  it  an 
unforgetable  character.  Of  all  the  cities  of  Alsace, 
this  bears  more  than  any  other  the  imprint  of 
French  taste.  On  the  great  square  and  in  the 
main  street  are  rows  of  little  facades,  decorated 
with  masks  and  escutcheons  in  the  style  of  Louis 
XV.  The  Hotel  de  Ville,  built  in  1741.  served  as  a 
model  to  the  citizens.  But  look  at  the  homes 
which  were  then  built,  and  in  the  sobriety  of  the 
ornaments,  in  the  homely  expression  of  certain 
sculptures,  you  will  recognize  with  what  good 
sense  and  simplicity  these  Alsatians  accommo- 
dated the  fancies  of  fashion  to  the  adornment  of 
their  little  city.  Ah !  here  we  are  far  away  from 
Germanic  rococo. 

How  pleasing  is  this  decoration  of  Wissembourg  ! 
What  pleasant  facades !  What  lovable  sculp- 
tures !  What  admirable  ironwork  at  the  windows, 
on  the  doors,  about  the  outside  stairs ! 

Nowhere  in  France  can  we  find  a  town  which  has 
so  well  preserved  the  externals  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  We  are  happy  —  and  sad  —  to  dis- 
cover such  a  spectacle  in  the  midst  of  Alsace.  But 


PORTRAIT  OF  STANISLAS  LESZCZYNSKI 


Wissembourg  107 


this  sadness,  here,  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  our 
admirations ! 

At  Wissembourg  occurred  the  most  dramatic 
scene  of  the  extraordinary  romance  of  Stanislas 
Leszczynski.  Here  it  was  that  this  king  of  Poland 
found  refuge  one  day,  exiled  from  his  kingdom, 
exiled  from  the  principality  of  Deux-Ponts, 
dragging  with  him  his  family  and  the  remnants 
of  his  court.  As  his  goods  had  been  confiscated, 
he  lived  on  the  alms  of  France  and  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine.  He  had  obtained  from  the  Regent  per- 
mission to  settle  in  one  of  the  towns  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  Alsace,  and  had  chosen  Wissembourg. 
Smoking  his  pipe,  he  dreamed  ambitious  dreams, 
and  awaited  the  return  of  fortune :  he  was  a 
chivalrous,  chimerical,  and  childish  soul.  These 
remembrances  pursue  me  while  I  wander  about 
the  town  whose  melancholy  agrees  so  well  with 
this  history  of  a  king  in  exile.  I  wish  to  see  the 
house  where  Stanislas  lived,  and  whence  "La 
Polonaise "  departed  to  become  queen  of  France. 

This  house  is  still  standing.  It  belonged  to  a 
certain  Weber,  who  gave  it  up  to  the  King  of 
Poland.  Since  then  it  has  been  altered  and  en- 
larged, and  has  often  changed  its  use.  During 
the  French  Revolution  Freemasons  held  their 
lodges  there.    Later  it  was  used  as  a  college.  Now 


108  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


it  is  the  hospital  of  Wissembourg.  But  the 
building  has  retained  its  former  appearance,  its 
high  tiled  roof,  and  its  beautiful  staircase  with 
wooden  balustrades. 

While  ascending  this  staircase  I  noticed  the  date 
engraved  upon  the  wall :  1722.  It  was  three  years 
before  that  when  Stanislas  came  to  Wissembourg. 
Was  the  house  then  reconstructed  while  he  in- 
habited it  ?  Or  did  Stanislas,  before  coming  here, 
live  elsewhere?  Others  may  answer  this  little 
problem.  What  remains  certain  is  that  in  1725,  at 
the  decisive  hour  of  their  destiny,  the  king  and 
his  daughter  lived  within  these  walls. 

It  was  here  that  Stanislas  had  lodged  his  wife, 
Catherine  Opalinska,  his  old  mother,  Anne 
Jablonowska,  Count  Tarlo,  his  ambassador  at 
foreign  courts,  Baron  de  Meszczeck,  his  marshal  of 
the  palace,  WimpfT,  his  first  gentleman  of  the 
bedchamber,  his  intimate  secretary  Biber,  the  five 
officers  who  had  remained  faithful  to  him,  and 
the  three  maids  of  honor  of  the  queen.  By 
doubling  up  a  little,  this  modest  court  could  live 
in  the  house  of  Weber. 

The  chambers  of  the  upper  floor  are  today  occu- 
pied by  invalids'  beds.  The  last  of  all,  which, 
according  to  a  tradition,  served  as  a  boudoir  for 
Marie  Leszczynska,  is  now  the  apartment  of  the 
nuns.    Without  intending  it,  without  knowing  it 


Wissembourg  109 


perhaps,  they  have  thus  rendered  suitable  homage 
to  the  memory  of  the  pious  and  charitable  princess. 

I  crossed  the  garden  in  the  hope  of  discovering 
there  some  trace  of  the  past.  In  the  midst  of  a 
little  grove,  formed  by  old  trees  and  carpeted 
with  ivy,  we  see  a  stone  table.  In  the  orchard  a 
little  fountain  gushes  from  a  few  stones,  where 
may  still  be  distinguished  sculptured  lions'  heads. 
An  inscription,  now  illegible,  has  left  a  few  traces 
on  a  wall.  Table,  sculptures,  inscription,  do  they 
date  from  the  eighteenth  century?  No  one 
knows;  no  one  here  remembers  anything  about 
the  Polish  exiles :  not  a  relic.  But  the  essence 
of  the  scene  has  not  changed  :  it  is  the  same  home, 
it  is  the  same  garden,  it  is  the  same  light,  it  is  the 
same  sadness ;  this  is  enough  to  revive  the  memory 
of  the  dead. 

A  score  of  writers  have  told  the  story  of  the 
little  princess,  who,  though  neither  rich  nor 
beautiful,  left  her  hovel  in  Alsace  to  marry  the 
greatest  king  of  the  world  (Note  17).  But  no  one 
who  has  not  seen  the  house,  the  orchard,  and  the 
grove  of  Wissembourg  will  ever  taste  all  the 
charm  and  all  the  ironies  of  this  singular  adventure. 

Poor  Stanislas  paced  this  little  garden  a  thou- 
sand times,  dreaming  of  his  lost  throne  and  of  the 
poverty  of  his  family.  To  tell  the  truth,  he  was 
well  rid  of  the  crown  of  Poland ;  the  important 


110  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


thing  for  him  and  his  court  was  not  to  die  of 
hunger.  To  emerge  from  misery  but  a  single  way 
remained  open  to  him :  to  marry  his  daughter 
well.  But  if  his  dignity  of  former  sovereignty 
forbade  him  certain  misalliances,  his  poverty 
frightened  away  rich  wooers.  His  friend,  Che- 
valier de  Vauchoux,  brought  him  one  day  from 
Paris  the  unexpected  news  that  M.  le  Due  was 
thinking  of  remarrying,  that  his  attention  had 
been  attracted  to  Marie  Leszczynska,  and  that 
Madame  de  Prie  was  favorable  to  this  project. 
Stanislas  experienced  an  inexpressible  joy.  He 
was  naif,  not  sufficiently  so,  however,  to  be 
ignorant  that  his  daughter  was  the  plaything  of 
an  ignoble  intrigue,  that  Madame  de  Prie  was  the 
mistress  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  and  that  she 
accepted  this  marriage  with  the  idea  that  her 
empire  could  not  be  threatened  by  a  wife  who  was 
poor,  religious,  without  energy,  and  without 
accomplishments.  The  poor  king  set  his  wits  to 
work  to  retain  the  precious  friendship  of  the 
marchioness;  he  corresponded  incessantly  with 
his  friend  de  Vauchoux  (Note  18),  a  zealous  inter- 
mediary, and  pressed  him  to  induce  the  duke  to 
commit  himself  publicly ;  for  he  awaited  anxiously 
the  moment  when  he  could  offer  his  creditors  the 
indorsement  of  his  son-in-law.  .  .  . 

In  the  little  chamber  where  today  are  ranged  the 


Portrait  of  Marie  Leszczynska 

Photogravure  from  the  Painting  by  Roujat 


Wissembourg 


111 


white  cots  of  the  Sisters  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul, 
Marie,  indifferent  to  the  calculations  of  her  father, 
waited,  praying,  and  embroidering  church  dra- 
peries, until  Providence  should  manifest  its  will. 
She  was  a  graceful  and  lively  young  girl,  slender 
of  figure,  easy  of  carriage,  with  a  fresh  and  highly 
colored  complexion;  but  her  eyes  were  irregular, 
her  features  heavy  and  plain.  She  was  learned 
and  witty,  but  especially  she  was  good,  com- 
passionate, and  generous.  She  knew  that  she  was 
not  mistress  of  her  destiny,  and  prepared  to  become 
Duchess  of  Bourbon.  She  had  already  seen  a 
Parisian  artist,  commissioned  to  paint  her  por- 
trait, mysteriously  arrive  at  Wissembourg :  it 
was  the  prelude  to  the  engagement.  .  .  .  Three 
weeks  later  her  father  entered  her  room,  in- 
toxicated with  joy,  crying:  "My  daughter,  fall 
on  your  knees  and  thank  God!"  At  first  she 
believed  that  Poland  had  just  recalled  its  king. 
But  Stanislas  answered  her:  "Heaven  is  even 
more  favorable  to  us  :  you  are  Queen  of  France !' 7 
Queen  of  France !  To  understand  the  dazzling 
greatness  of  this  change  of  scene,  we  must  have 
before  our  eyes  the  little  garden  of  the  Leszczyn- 
skis,  the  ten  trees  of  their  grove,  and  the  dozen 
windows  of  their  fagade.  This  was  what  Marie 
was  going  to  leave  for  Versailles,  and  Stanislas  for 
Chambord.  ...    Queen  of  France !   We  must 


112  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


imagine  what  these  words  expressed  of  glory  and 
splendor  for  these  miserable  and  needy  Poles, 
exiles  in  the  depth  of  Alsace !  We  must  picture 
their  dreams,  their  hopes,  their  worries,  and  their 
feverish  anxieties,  for,  until  the  marriage  had 
been  announced  by  the  king  himself,  they  had 
everything  to  fear :  the  chances  of  politics,  the  in- 
ventions of  slanderers,  the  intrigues  of  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  who  reigned  in  Poland  and  must  fear  a 
rival  rendered  powerful  by  alliance  with  France. 

Brief  alarms.  Madame  de  Prie  remained  faith- 
ful to  Stanislas ;  she  would  willingly  have  married 
her  lover  to  Marie  Leszczynska,  but  the  second 
combination  pleased  her  still  more;  she  was 
choosing  a  queen  who  would  be  her  creature.  The 
report  was  spread  that  the  Polish  princess  was 
afflicted  with  the  falling  sickness ;  the  surgeon  Du 
Phenix  came  secretly  to  Wissembourg,  and  his 
report  stilled  the  slander.  Finally,  the  police 
foiled  an  attempt  to  poison  Stanislas.  He  also 
authorized  his  friends  to  declare  in  his  name  that 
he  made  no  further  pretensions  to  the  throne  of 
Poland,  and  that  he  would  esteem  himself  a 
hundred  thousand  times  happier  if  he  could  end 
his  days  in  France.  Finally,  May  27,  at  his 
petit  lever,  Louis  XV  announced  to  the  court  "that 
he  would  marry  the  only  daughter  of  Stanislas 
Leszczynski,  Count  of  Lesno,  formerly  Starost  of 


Wissembourg  113 


Adelnau,  then  Palatine  of  Posnania,  and  finally 
elected  King  of  Poland  in  the  month  of  July, 
1704,  and  of  Catherine  Opalinski,  daughter  of  the 
Castellan  of  Posnania.  .  .  They  breathed  at 
Wissembourg :  the  destinies  were  fixed. 

There  was  nothing  more  to  do  but  to  dress  the 
bride  and  arrange  the  ceremony.  The  retreat  of 
Wissembourg  is  still  a  perfect  frame  effectively  to 
set  off  the  picture  of  these  glorious  and  childish 
preparations. 

To  name  the  household  of  the  queen  was  the 
affair  of  Versailles ;  to  designate  her  confessor 
was  the  affair  of  the  ministry;  but  it  was  im- 
possible to  ignore  the  princess  in  preparing  the 
finery  in  which  she  was  going  to  present  herself 
to  her  subjects  and  her  king.  The  faithful  de 
Vauchoux  was  charged  with  this  mission.  M.  le 
Due  begged  him  to  send  him  one  of  the  shoes  of 
Marie  Leszczynska,  a  pair  of  her  gloves,  and  the 
length  of  her  skirt.  After  having  informed  M.  le 
Due  upon  the  "  sentiments  of  the  Princess  Marie 
in  the  matter  of  religion,"  the  chevalier  adds  this 
postscript :  "I  send  to  Your  Most  Serene  Highness 
only  a  slipper  of  the  princess,  not  being  able  to 
send  you  a  shoe,  as  you  ordered  me,  since  she 
uses  them  only  for  dancing  and  those  that  she  has 
would  make  but  indifferent  patterns.  She  believes 
that  a  slipper  may  serve.    Your  Most  Serene 


114  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


Highness  will  find  the  gloves  and  the  length  of 
the  skirt  as  she  desires  it."  The  length  of  the 
skirt !  What  costumer  today  would  content  him- 
self with  such  a  sketchy  measurement  to  dress  a 
queen ! 

While  the  slipper  and  the  gloves  traveled  from 
Wissembourg  to  Strasburg,  and  from  Strasburg  to 
Paris,  Stanislas  got  ready  to  appear  like  a  king. 
He  had  pawned  with  a  Frankfort  Jew  a  few 
jewels,  remnants  of  the  royal  fortune.  Out  of 
friendship  and  to  oblige  the  future  father-in-law 
of  Louis  XV,  Marshal  du  Bourg,  Governor  of 
Strasburg,  advanced  him  the  sum  required  to 
redeem  them.  Then  it  was  necessary  to  gather 
carriages,  to  form  the  semblance  of  a  court,  and 
to  find  six  pages.  The  poor  king  had  only  two. 
He  finally  found  one  at  Wissembourg  and  the 
Marshal  furnished  him  the  other  three. 

Thus  scantily  equipped,  the  exiles  were  able  to 
leave  Wissembourg.  On  July  4  they  entered 
Strasburg  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening;  the 
musketeers  of  Parabere  and  of  Pardaillan  escorted 
them ;  the  cannon  roared  in  honor  of  Marie 
Leszczynska,  who,  six  weeks  later,  became  the 
wife  of  Louis  XV. 

One  day  Stanislas  wrote  to  his  friend  Marshal 
du  Bourg:  "I  always  sigh  for  Alsace,  which  you 
made  so  agreeable  to  me  that  I  shall  regret  it 


PORTRAIT  OF  LOUIS  XV 


Wissembourg 


115 


all  my  life."  He  was  sincere.  He  was  not  made 
for  the  trade  of  kingship.  If  the  pension  which 
France  had  promised  him  had  been  paid  him  less 
irregularly,  he  would  have  tasted  an  unmixed 
pleasure  in  cultivating  his  garden  at  Wissembourg. 

As  to  Marie1  Leszczynska,  perhaps  she  also 
regretted  her  days  of  exile,  her  slippers,  her  con- 
fessor, her  poor,  the  care-free  gaiety  of  her  father, 
the  cordial  smiles  of  the  good  Alsatians,  and  the 
old  church  of  Wissembourg,  where  each  day  she 
remained  for  hours  on  her  knees  (Note  19). 


IX 


AN  EXCURSION  IN  THE  SURROUNDINGS 
OF  STRASBURG.  —  THE  ALSATIAN  TRA- 
DITION 


N  a  fine  afternoon  of  September,  under  a 


pallid,  azure  sky,  which  well  accords  with 


the  pensive  grace  of  Alsace,  I  have  come 
to  Obermodern,  a  village  in  the  valley  of  the  Moder, 
a  dozen  leagues  north  of  Strasburg.  An  Alsatian 
who  knows  and  loves  his  country  has  asserted 
to  me  that  I  will  see  in  these  parts  the  most 
beautiful  specimens  of  rustic  architecture  to  be 
found  in  Alsace,  and  has  himself  guided  me  from 
village  to  village,  telling  me,  as  our  wanderings 
gave  occasion,  the  history  of  the  houses  and  the 
life  of  those  who  inhabit  them.  We  have  visited 
Obermodern,  Zutzendorf,  Schalkendorf,  Bues- 
willer,  Ettendorf,  scattered  in  a  beautiful  country, 
which,  while  it  is  no  longer  mountainous,  is  not 
yet  plain,  and  seems  like  a  disordered  sea  of  long 
undulations  and  wide  valleys,  a  rich  and  happy 
country,  but  which  because  of  its  richness  seems 
made  for  passages  and  displays  at  arms.  Like 


116 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  117 


all  the  fertile  regions  of  Alsace  it  has  been  twenty 
times  swept  by  war.  I 

With  their  cowls  of  tiles  and  their  garlands  of 
vines,  all  these  charming  villages  have  the  same 
appearance j  the  same  air  of  ease  and  quiet 
happiness,  the  same  smile  of  welcome.  A  few 
indications,  either  in  the  plan  or  in  the  ornamenta- 
tion of  the  houses,  seem,  however,  to  reveal  that 
each  of  them  has  desired  to  retain  its  individuality  : 
popular  tradition  is  strong  only  if  it  is  diverse  and 
infinitely  ramified ;  the  sap  of  Alsace  mounts 
through  a  thousand  roots.  We  can,  in  passing, 
divine  these  differences,  but  I  have  some  doubt  as 
to  expressing  them  in  words. 

These  contrasts  might  be  more  vivid  and  strik- 
ing, for  the  faces  of  men  are  more  expressive  than 
the  fronts  of  their  homes.  In  each  of  the  villages 
which  I  have  visited  I  have  seen  the  same  types 
and  the  same  costumes :  everywhere,  under 
the  large  coques  of  black  ribbon,  the  same  clear, 
limpid  and  speaking  eyes;  everywhere  fine  old 
men,  dry  and  robust,  with  glances  of  malice  or  of 
kindness,  hands  in  pockets,  with  short  jackets, 
their  gait  rolling  and  deliberate  because  of  their 
wooden  shoes;  everywhere  adorable  kiddies, 
with  round,  fresh  faces  expanded  in  great,  silent 
smiles ;  everywhere  the  same  atmosphere  of  cordial 
friendship.    At  Obermodern,  at  Schalkendorf,  at 


118 


Bueswiller,  this  good  nature  is  mingled  with  an 
indescribable  graveness  and  reserve.  But  sud- 
denly, on  entering  Ettendorf  —  which  is  only 
half  a  league  from  Bueswiller  —  we  are  astonished 
to  find  the  rhythm  of  gestures,  actions,  and  words 
more  free  and  more  familiar.  Under  the  black 
coques  the  eyes  speak  a  more  ardent  language ; 
around  the  wells  and  the  fountains  we  hear  louder 
talking ;  the  children's  wooden  shoes  clatter  more 
loudly  on  the  pavement  of  the  streets ;  here  are 
still  the  same  people,  but  less  proud  and  more 
kindly,  with  brighter  eyes  behind  their  glances. 
Whence  comes  this  change?  I  ask,  and  the  only 
explanation  which  anyone  can  give  me  —  it 
satisfies  me  —  is  that  Obermodern,  Schalkendorf 
and  Bueswiller  are  absolutely  Lutheran  villages, 
while  at  Ettendorf  the  whole  population  is 
Catholic .  But  how  does  it  happen  that  two  villages 
so  near  together  belong  to  different  religions  ? 

Such  a  peculiarity  is  not  rare  in  Alsace,  and 
there  is  always  a  historical  reason  for  it.  Be- 
tween Ettendorf  and  Bueswiller  passed,  before  the 
Revolution,  the  frontier  of  the  little  principality 
of  Hanau-Lichtenberg.  In  1570,  Philippe  V, 
Count  of  Hanau-Lichtenberg,  established  the 
Reformation  in  his  territories.  The  principality 
remained  independent,  even  after  the  French 
occupation,  even  into  the  eighteenth  century, 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  119 


when  it  had  passed  under  the  rule  of  the  Prince 
of  Hesse-Darmstadt.  More  than  a  century  ago 
the  political  frontier  was  effaced,  but  the  religious 
frontier  has  not  disappeared.  A  deplorable  victim 
of  the  quarrels  of  Europe,  Alsace  has  never  ceased 
to  live  its  own  history,  as  one  recognizes  at  every 
step  upon  this  soil  of  misfortune  and  fidelity. 

While  crossing  this  little  canton  of  Lower  Alsace, 
I  have  come  across  more  than  one  pretty  picture : 
a  wide  street  where  in  front  of  all  the  mansions  is 
spread  out,  like  a  carpet  of  faded  green,  the  hop 
harvest,  which  in  drying  spreads  throughout  the 
village  its  strong  and  bitter  odor ;  —  on  the  slope 
of  a  hill,  before  the  door  of  his  hut  of  beaten  earth, 
the  gooseherd  of  Schalkendorf  governing  his 
immense  flock  with  his  long  wand ;  —  the  great 
court  of  a  farm,  where  German  artillerymen  on 
manoeuvre  scrub  and  polish,  while  upon  the  wall  a 
graffito  of  forty  years  ago  represents  a  little 
French  soldier  with  the  tight-waisted  frock  and 
the  high  shako  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Second 
Empire ;  —  at  Ettendorf  the  vesper  parade,  the 
slow  march  of  women  and  girls,  advancing  in  a 
line,  holding  each  other  by  the  hand,  laughing  and 
chattering,  under  the  great  wings  of  their  head 
dresses,  shaken  by  the  breeze.  .  .  .  But  I  have 
not  lost  sight  of  the  object  of  my  travels.    I  came 


120  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


here  to  know  the  house  of  the  Alsatian  peasant 
and  I  would  like  to  describe  it,  —  without  dwelling 
on  the  slight  differences  which  we  can  observe 
between  one  village  and  the  next.  Where  does 
man  reveal  more  clearly  his  character,  his  taste, 
and  his  spirit  than  in  the  appearance  and  the 
furnishing  of  his  home? 

The  farmhouse  presents  to  the  village  street  its 
high  gables,  made  gay  by  the  whiteness  of  rough- 
cast plaster  and  the  variations  of  the  framing, 
overhung  by  the  wide  projection  of  the  tile  roof. 
The  roof  seems  to  incline  its  roof  tree  and  lift  up 
its  copings  with  a  graceful  movement,  to  shelter 
the  walls  from  sun  and  rain.  Under  this  shelter 
nest  wooden  galleries,  whose  balustrades  bear 
witness  to  the  age  of  the  house;  when  thin  and 
spindle-shaped,  they  are  the  last  witnesses  of  the 
Gothic  period ;  if  more  stocky  and  quadrangular 
in  form,  they  date  from  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  Elsewhere  the  galleries  have 
disappeared,  and  simple  pent-roofs  protect  the 
windows  of  each  story  Everywhere  the  grapes 
run  over  the  walls 

Beside  this  building  a  great  carriage  gate,  formed 
by  a  stone  arch  and  closed  by  wide  valves,  gives 
access  to  the  court,  Farther  on  is  a  small  door 
surmounted  by  a  transom,  guarded  by  four 
balusters.    Almost  always  a  stone  escutcheon  with 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  121 


a  date  and  attributes  ornaments  the  principal 
entrance.  Sometimes  a  laborer  and  his  plough 
have  been  carved  over  the  lintel  of  the  little  gate. 
Sometimes  upon  the  pilasters  of  the  portal,  there 
has  been  sculptured  a  simple  decoration  composed 
of  turnsole  flowers,  tobacco  leaves,  and  hop  vines, 
the  flora  of  the  neighboring  country.  V/hen  we 
penetrate  into  the  court  of  the  farm,  we  are 
struck  by  a  certain  air  of  order  and  of  grandeur. 
In  a  description  of  France  published  in  1835,  I 
find  this  judgment  on  the  peasants  of  the  Bas- 
Rhin  :  "The  peasant  rises  with  the  sun  and  works 
all  day  either  in  his  field  or  in  his  barns.  He  has 
for  his  repose  a  spacious  habitation,  entirely 
separated  from  the  stables  and  the  barns." 
Even  today,  this  separation  is  the  most  surprising 
character  of  an  Alsatian  farm.  One  of  the  sides 
of  the  court  is  occupied  by  the  stable  and  the 
cowshed,  another  by  a  great  hangar,  supported 
upon  beautiful  pillars  of  wood  or  stone,  which 
shelters  the  haymow,  the  carts,  and  the  winepress ; 
the  third  is  reserved  for  the  family  dwelling,  which 
is  not  here,  as  in  other  farming  regions,  a  single 
room  which  is  at  the  same  time  kitchen,  dining 
room,  and  bedroom,  where  the  animals  have  as 
much  freedom  of  entry  as  human  beings.  It  is  a 
clean,  comfortable,  partitioned  home,  with  an 
invariable  plan. 


122  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


Let  us  cross  the  porch,  sheltered  by  a  pent-roof 
and  decorated  with  old  balustrades.  Let  us  enter : 
the  inhabitants  give  a  hearty  welcome  to  our  curi- 
osity. From  the  tiled  hall  open  three  doors  :  the 
first  opens  into  a  little  room  where  are  the  storage 
bins  and  where  the  provisions  are  kept,  the  second 
into  the  kitchen,  the  third  into  the  living  room. 
This  last  room  has  been  reproduced  a  thousand 
times  by  artists  and  scene  painters.  How  well 
we  know  the  great  molded  beams,  which  hold  up 
the  ceiling,  the  square  windows  through  which 
passes  the  light  which  plays  upon  the  well-waxed 
stools  and  table,  the  long  wooden  bench  fastened 
to  the  wall,  the  great  sideboard  and  the  little 
etagere  which  are  set  across  two  corners  of  the 
room,  the  great  cast-iron  stove,  the  adjoining 
settle  where  the  old  folks  come  to  warm  themselves, 
the  provisions  hung  on  the  ceiling,  the  double 
alcove  divided  by  a  tall  clock,  and,  behind  curtains 
of  printed  cretonne,  the  extremely  high  beds  with 
four  mattresses,  beds  whose  woodwork  is  covered 
with  painted  flowers  and  whose  headboard  bears 
a  burning  heart,  with  the  date  of  the  marriage 
and  the  names  of  the  happy  pair.  .  .  .  But  what 
the  most  faithful  of  these  representations  cannot 
make  us  suspect  if  we  have  not  entered  some  of 
these  interiors  is  the  intimate  grace  of  these 
simple,  harmonious  and  venerable  objects. 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  123 


A  popular  art  —  take  in  its  most  simple  and  most 
common  meaning  this  word  to  which  our  esthetes 
and  politicians  have  given  meanings  so  varied 
and  sometimes  so  ridiculous  —  a  popular  art  is 
still  alive  in  Alsace.  It  is  possible  that  in  other 
times  and  other  places  the  populace  has  shown  a 
more  delicate  and  more  varied  taste  in  building 
and  adorning  its  homes.  But  these  times  are  past, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  make  comparisons  now 
that  everywhere  else  we  are  reduced  to  collecting 
the  rare  relics  of  the  popular  art  of  former  times 
and  to  cataloguing  them  in  our  museums.  The 
passion  for  ugliness  and  the  rage  for  uniformity 
have  not  yet  taken  possession  of  these  Alsatian 
peasants.  By  a  thousand  tokens,  some  charming, 
and  others  coarse  —  but  this  same  mixture  char- 
acterizes all  popular  art  —  we  feel  that  they 
aspire  confusedly  to  a  certain  beauty,  to  them 
inseparable  from  tradition.  Everything  reveals 
it :  these  images  which  they  carve  over  their 
doors,  these  sculptures  with  which  they  decorate 
the  beams  and  the  framework  of  their  wooden 
galleries,  the  pleasing  hoods  with  which  they  cap 
their  chimneys,  and  even  the  childish  sketches 
which  they  draw  upon  the  rough-cast  of  their 
houses. 

Formerly  there  were,  it  is  said,  furnishings  of 
rare  beauty  in  these  homes :    they  have  dis- 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


appeared ;  the  secondhand  dealer  has  passed 
through,  the  ignoble  secondhand  dealer  who  has 
devastated  all  the  old  homes,  and  perverted  the 
popular  taste  by  depriving  it  of  the  daily  and 
familiar  lessons  given  it  by  the  pretty  things  of 
the  past,  now  replaced  by  department -store 
wares.  In  these  Alsatian  farms  the  secondhand 
dealer  has  only  half  accomplished  his  misdeeds. 
After  he  had  carried  away  his  precious  booty, 
the  peasants  replaced  the  furniture  which  they 
had  sold  with  other  furniture  of  the  same  form 
and  character,  so  that  the  appearance  of  the  hered- 
itary decoration  has  not  changed.  The  rubbish 
of  the  bazaars  has  not  dishonored  these  interiors. 
It  is  besides  remarkable  how  strange  "the  big 
city,"  although  so  near,  seems  to  these  country- 
men :  they  derive  nothing  from  it ;  they  keep  the 
costumes  which  suit  them,  and  the  furniture 
which  suits  their  houses.  Strasburg  has  never 
radiated  over  Alsace  the  influence  of  a  capital. 
Each  village  is  defended  against  outside  influences 
by  a  rampart  of  traditions. 

These  houses  which  we  have  entered  are  not 
all  of  ancient  construction,  but  almost  all  are 
built  and  arranged  in  the  same  way.  At  Bues- 
willer  is  one  of  the  oldest  farms  of  Alsace ;  it 
bears  over  its  door  the  date  1595 ;  it  conforms  in 
every  respect  to  the  type  which  I  have  described. 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  125 


The  Thirty  Years'  War  devastated  the  country: 
the  towns  and  the  villages  were  ruined,  pillaged, 
burned ;  then  Alsace  rose  slowly  from  its  ruins. 
The  farms  which  were  built  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  are  like  those  of  Bueswiller. 
(The  only  difference,  as  I  have  indicated,  is  in 
the  design  of  the  wooden  balusters.)  Those 
which  have  been  built  during  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury all  reproduce  the  same  plan.  If  a  date  were 
not  written  on  the  lintel  of  the  door  it  would  be 
very  difficult  to  guess  their  age.  .  .  .  Thus  is 
once  more  manifested  the  power  of  tradition. 

This  word  tradition  flows  incessantly  from  my 
pen.  How  can  I  avoid  it?  It  is  the  secret  of  all 
the  virtues  and  all  the  beauties  by  which  Alsace 
enchants  and  moves  us. 

Today  has  enabled  me  to  enter  far  deeper  than 
ever  before  into  the  intimacy  of  Alsace.  I  now 
understand  more  clearly  what  certain  young 
Alsatians  mean  when  they  speak  of  "  disengaging, 
maintaining  the  tradition"  of  Alsace.  I  saw 
clearly  the  nobility  of  their  task,  I  admired  the 
reasoned  piety  with  which  they  set  out  to  defend 
the  ideas  and  the  manners  of  their  fatherland 
against  foreign  conquest.  But  I  had  not  yet 
experienced  how  truly  Alsatian  their  enterprise  is, 
in  principle  as  in  results.    They  can  confidently 


126  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


express  their  ambition  to  "  disengage,  maintain, 
and  prolong  tradition."  In  their  country  such  a 
desire  is  not  chimerical;  what  they  wish  can  be 
accomplished  without  a  miracle.  In  our  prov- 
inces, we  have  also  our  "  traditionalists " :  I 
love  their  dream  and  would  like  to  partake  of  their 
illusions ;  but  I  fear  that  they  only  work  upon  a 
corpse,  able  to  galvanize  it  for  a  moment,  but 
powerless  to  resuscitate  it.  Here  the  breath  of  life 
still  animates  the  organism,  makes  the  brain  think, 
and  the  muscles  react. 

These  Alsatians  were  born  after  the  annexation. 
They  have  grown  up  under  German  domination. 
They  have,  in  their  infancy,  been  witnesses  of 
the  frightful  deceptions  which  crushed  their 
fathers,  when  these,  after  having  long  expected 
deliverance,  had,  —  without  forgetting  anything, 
without  denying  anything,  —  to  bend  under  the 
law  of  the  victor.  When  they  themselves  had 
arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood,  they  looked  about 
them,  they  looked  beyond  the  Vosges,  and  they 
understood :  the  time  of  heroic  protestations  was 
past.  The  useful,  urgent,  indispensable  task  was 
to  preserve  for  their  fatherland  its  century-old 
personality,  its  moral  resources,  its  intellectual 
character,  the  originality  of  its  culture ;  it  was 
necessary  to  defend  the  hereditary  treasure  against 
the  Germans,  who,  to  better  seal  their  conquest, 


The  Alsatian  Tradition  127 


wished  to  Germanize  everything  from  the  Vosges 
to  the  Rhine ;  it  was  necessary  also  to  defend  it 
against  the  Alsatians  themselves,  for  since  1871 
the  incessant  emigration  had  impoverished  the 
province  and  diminished  its  power  of  resistance. 
They  set  themselves  to  the  task.  They  tried  to 
give  to  Alsace  a  more  lively  appreciation  of  its 
ethnic  origins,  its  history,  and  its  art.  But  they 
were  not  contented  with  talking  to  the  literate, 
and  with  proclaiming  obstinately  the  rights  of 
Alsatian  thought,  Alsatian  taste,  and  Alsatian 
civilization.  They  encouraged  the  foundation  of 
an  Alsatian  theater,  they  persuaded  the  peasants 
to  hold  still  more  firmly  to  their  old  costumes  and 
their  old  houses,  they  spread  everywhere  the 
images  of  these  ancient  things,  by  photographs, 
prints,  and  postcards.  They  encouraged  their 
painters,  their  sculptors,  and  their  architects  to 
get  inspiration  by  studying  the  productions  of 
native  art.  Finally  they  founded  at  Strasburg 
the  Alsatian  Museum,  where  are  exhibited,  not 
rare  and  precious  works,  but  everything  which  for 
centuries  constituted  the  surroundings  of  the  life 
of  the  common  people  and  the  citizens  :  furniture, 
household  utensils,  playthings,  clothing,  and  so 
forth.  .  .  .  And  this  is  not  a  museum  of  relics 
good  only  to  amuse  the  sentimental  curiosity  for 
specimens  indulged  in  by  amateurs :    I  have 


128  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


shown  you  just  now  that  this  past  still  lives  in  the 
present.  Grouped  in  the  pleasant  house  which 
the  Museum  Society  has  just  purchased  on  the 
Quai  Saint-Nicolas,  a  stone's  throw  from  the 
celebrated  and  charming  Hotel  des  Corbeaux,  all 
these  objects  will  give  strangers  the  idea  and 
Alsatians  the  knowledge  of  a  beautiful  and  power- 
ful national  tradition.  To  have  thus  pursued  for 
five  years  this  task  of  devotion  and  of  patriotism, 
these  young  Alsatians  must  have  been  in  harmony 
with  the  inmost  sentiments  of  their  countrymen, 
for  they  have  truly  accomplished  the  secret  wish 
of  all  hearts.  Tests  and  embarrassments  have 
not  been  spared  them.  I  speak  neither  of  the 
counsels  and  examples  of  prudence  which  have 
been  given  them  in  a  more  or  less  disinterested 
fashion,  nor  of  the  bad  humor  of  the  German  po- 
lice, always  active  and  troublesome  in  spite  of  the 
abolition  of  the  dictatorship.  The  greatest  griefs 
have  come  to  them  from  elsewhere.  They  have 
seen  Alsace  divided  against  itself,  political  quarrels 
envenomed  by  religious  discord,  the  work  of  union 
compromised  by  the  rivalries  of  the  confessions,  the 
Catholic  clergy  exasperated  by  the  acts  of  the 
French  government,  and  ready  to  abandon  what 
it  had  considered,  just  before,  the  very  dignity  of 
Alsace,  spirits  impaired  and  courage  dashed  in  the 
midst  of  the  confusion  of  parties.    They  have, 


COURT  OF  THE  ALSATIAN  MUSEUM,  STRASBURG 


The  Alsatian  Tradition 


129 


nevertheless ,  persevered,  convinced  that  these 
storms  did  not  agitate  the  soul  of  Alsace  to  its 
depths.  They  also  knew  a  grief  more  bitter 
still  than  that  of  assisting  at  the  dismemberment 
of  their  country,  on  the  day  when  a  Frenchman, 
visiting  Strasburg,  came  to  question  them  as  to 
"  the  progress  of  Germanization  "  and  received  the 
story  of  their  admirable  efforts  with  a  polite  and 
ironical  smile. 


X 


TOWARD  SAINTE-ODILE 

ROSHEIM.  —  The  long  street  passes  under 
three  old  gates  with  conical  towers ; 
the  well  before  the  Hotel  de  Ville  has  a 
handsome  crown  with  three  pinnacles ;  the  tiled 
projections  of  its  gabled  roofs  shelter  the  fine 
balustrades  of  the  exterior  gallery.  This  is  the 
usual  appearance  of  an  Alsatian  market  town; 
the  elements  everywhere  are  similar,  but  the 
caprices  of  men,  of  the  location  and  of  light  diver- 
sify it  infinitely. 

The  Church  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul  is  a 
beautiful  Romanesque  edifice ;  the  yellow  sand- 
stone of  which  it  is  built  gives  it  an  unusual 
appearance  among  the  red  churches  of  Alsace. 
Its  triple  nave  is  terminated  irregularly ;  while  the 
northern  and  central  naves  terminate  in  two 
rounded  apses,  the  southern  one  is  prolonged  by  a 
rectangular  construction,  which  was  perhaps  the 
base  of  an  unfinished  tower,  and  the  restorers 
have  had  sufficient  taste  not  to  build  a  third  apse 
in  its  place.    The  interior  is  poorly  lighted ;  the 

130 


SOUTH  DOOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT 

PAUL,  ROSHEIM 


Toward  Sainte-Odile  131 


shadow  half  conceals  the  modern  decorations  which 
have  been  so  lavishly  used  and  makes  still  more 
evident  the  majesty  of  the  robust  columns  with 
their  large  capitals. 

Strange  sculptures  relate  the  legends  of  this 
church :  at  the  edge  of  the  roof  are  four  stone 
wolves,  each  holding  an  infant  in  its  paws;  an 
eagle  sits  upon  the  finishing  course  of  the  pediment 
which  crowns  the  gable  of  the  fagade ;  a  knight  is 
visible  on  the  roof  of  the  choir ;  and  an  individual 
holding  a  purse  in  his  hand  kneels  at  the  foot  of 
the  belfry  which  rises  at  the  crossing  of  the  nave 
and  the  transept.  Here  is  the  explanation  of  the 
puzzle  :  a  certain  Count  of  Salen  had  four  children, 
who  were  all  eaten  by  wolves.  As  the  thought  that 
he  had  no  heir  caused  him  great  sorrow,  he  con- 
sulted a  holy  hermit.  The  hermit  promised  him 
that  his  wife  would  have  more  children  when  he 
should  have  built  a  church  in  a  place  which  would 
be  indicated  to  him  in  the  forest  by  a  bird ;  one 
day  the  count  saw  an  eagle  hovering  over  him, 
and  commenced  to  build  a  church  on  this  spot. 
The  end  is  mysterious  :  had  the  hermit  made  false 
promises?  Or  rather,  did  the  count,  after  seeing 
his  wishes  granted,  perjure  himself  by  not  com- 
pletely accomplishing  his  vow  ?  For  some  reason, 
the  building  was  interrupted  for  lack  of  money, 
and  to  complete  it  the  architect  was  reduced  to 


132  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


begging  alms  from  good  Christians :  it  is  he  him- 
self who,  seated  on  the  roof  of  his  church,  his 
begging  pouch  in  hand,  has  for  seven  centuries 
reproached  the  Count  of  Salen  for  his  credulity 
.  .  .  or  perhaps  his  wickedness. 

The  history  of  Rosheim  presents  a  frightful 
series  of  pillages,  burnings,  and  massacres ;  it  is 
similar  to  that  of  all  these  little  towns  of  Alsace, 
which,  from  the  day  when  Ariovistus  crossed  the 
Rhine  to  the  Peace  of  Nimwegen,  lived  in  the 
midst  of  the  horror  of  the  war  without  knowing 
twenty  years  of  truce.  While  reading  the  story 
of  these  incessant  catastrophes,  I  happened  upon 
an  admirable  extract  from  the  Chronique  de  Senones, 
in  which  the  monk  Richer  relates  a  scene  of  drunk- 
enness and  bloodshed  staged  in  Rosheim  at  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  It  is  a 
masterpiece  of  life  and  color,  and  truly  breathes 
the  suffering  of  Lorraine.  I  desire  to  reproduce  it, 
not  only  because  of  its  picturesque  beauty,  but  also 
because  the  tableau  could  be  wonderfully  staged 
even  today  at  Rosheim :  the  old  gates  and  the 
old  church  are  still  standing,  and  the  old  cellars 
are  still  full  of  the  generous  Kielber  wine  with 
which  the  soldiers  of  Lorraine  surfeited  themselves. 

The  Emperor  had  retaken  Rosheim  from  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  after  having  pledged  it  to  him. 
The  duke's  son  crossed  the  valley  of  the  Bruche, 


Toward  Sainte-Odile  133 


and  the  grand  master  of  his  household,  Lambyrin, 
led  his  forces  against  Rosheim  .  .  .  "and  be- 
cause thereabout  the  valley  had  no  defence, 
entered  suddenly  into  the  town.  Which  seeing, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  place  withdrew  into  their 
church,  and  so  Lambyrin  with  his  people  occupied 
the  town  and  there  having  found  much  provision, 
as  wine  and  other  meats,  each  took  of  them  at  his 
will.  Hereupon,  seeing  that  no  one  withstood 
them,  they  entered  the  cellars  and  found  them 
full  of  wine,  sat  there  and  ate  and  drank  as  much 
as  they  wished.  And  as  this  sort  of  country- 
people  is  accustomed  when  they  find  much  wine 
to  get  drunk,  inasmuch  as  in  their  homes  they 
drink  of  it  not  often,  these  all  became  drunk,  and 
staggering  in  their  gait  ran  against  each  other  in 
all  directions  and  fell  in  the  streets.  Having  per- 
ceived which,  a  certain  gentle  soldier  named  Otto, 
who  was  of  the  said  town,  having  assembled  the 
greatest  part  of  these  his  co-citizens,  said  to  them  : 
t  Courage,  friends,  do  you  not  see  these  rustics  all 
dead  drunk  ?  Then  take  up  your  arms,  for  with- 
out difficulty  we  will  tan  them  well/  Hereupon, 
mad  with  rage  (as  the  Germans  have  the  fashion  of 
becoming),  rushing  from  their  houses,  they  threw 
themselves  upon  the  rustics,  who,  thinking  to  take 
their  arms  in  their  hands,  could  not,  for  that  they 
had  much  ado  even  to  stand  up.    Some  even, 


134  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


trying  to  get  to  their  feet,  fell  again  heavily. 
Others,  wishing  to  surrender  at  discretion,  hic- 
coughed so  much  that  they  could  scarcely  speak 
a  straight  word.  And  because  the  Germans  do  not 
know  how  to  give  mercy  to  any  over  whom  they 
have  the  upper  hand,  they  commenced  to  rage  so 
impetuously  against  them  that  they  overwhelmed 
and  massacred  those  drunken  sots  with  their 
cutlasses  to  the  number  of  seven  score." 

Boersch.  —  In  1328,  Berthold,  Bishop  of  Stras- 
burg  —  this  was  carved  in  the  stone  —  trans- 
formed into  a  town  the  village  of  Boersch.  The 
sign  of  such  a  change  was  always  a  girdle  of 
ramparts  and  battlemented  towers.  Boersch  then 
had  its  ramparts,  its  towers,  its  gates,  and  it 
possesses  them  still  —  a  little  dilapidated.  But,  in 
spite  of  all,  it  has  preserved  the  mien  of  a  pleasant 
village,  to  which  its  old  defences  give  a  presuming 
and  charming  air.  Besides,  what  a  singular 
stronghold  !  It  cuddles  at  the  bottom  of  a  narrow 
valley,  and  on  all  sides  the  hills  overlook  its  useless 
fortifications.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  if  the 
Bishop  of  Strasburg  wished  to  protect  Boersch 
it  was  less  to  ward  it  from  serious  assault  than  to 
defend  against  marauders  the  casks  piled  up  in  the 
cellars  of  the  wine  merchants. 

Behind  their  ramparts  these  vintners  were  rich 


AN  ANCIENT  HOUSE,  ROSHEIM 


Boersch 


135 


and  proud.  They  had  a  beautiful  Hotel  de 
Ville ;  they  loved  to  decorate  the  timbers  of  their 
dwellings  and  to  carve  on  the  lintels  of  their  doors 
the  emblem  of  their  calling.  When  we  stop 
before  a  pretty  well  or  enter  the  court  of  an  old 
home,  without  being  astonished  at  our  curiosity  a 
smiling  peasant  will  say  to  us  :  "  Ah  !  you  come  to 
see  the  ancientnesses  of  Boersch  !" 

And  now,  listen  to  the  history  of  the  satrap  of 
Boersch  !  For  this  town  has  had  a  satrap.  Yes,  a 
dynasty  of  satraps. 

The  bailiwick  belonged  to  the  grand  chapter  of 
Strasburg.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  func- 
tions of  bailiff  were  exercised  in  hereditary  suc- 
cession by  a  family  named  Bartman.  Now,  on 
the  south  wall  of  the  church,  we  may  read  the 
epitaph  of  Charles  Bartman,  who  at  the  age  of  77 
years  recommended  his  soul  to  his  Saviour.  The 
inscription  celebrates  in  mediocre  but  touching 
Latin  the  virtues  of  this  worthy  man,  his  acre 
for  the  poor  and  the  widows,  his  courage  in  defend- 
ing the  orphan,  his  piety,  his  stout-heartedness  in 
sickness,  and  the  love  which  he  inspired  among  his 
people.  As  it  thus  became  necessary  to  indicate 
his  office,  and  to  translate  into  Latin  the  word 
bailiff  (bailli  or  amtmann),  they  chose  toparcha. 
.  .  .  But,  after  the  death  of  the  toparch,  Fran- 
cois Joseph  Bartman  succeeded  him,    While  he 


136 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


was  in  office  he  lost  his  wife,  Marie  Odilie  Behr. 
She  was  buried  in  the  church,  and  they  made  her 
an  epitaph.  They  praised  her  also  for  her  love 
for  the  poor  and  her  courage  in  illness.  But  when 
it  was  necessary  to  write  beside  her  name  the 
name  and  the  title  of  her  husband,  they  judged 
that  this  word  toparch,  despite  the  majesty  given 
it  by  its  Hellenic  origin,  was  not  yet  adequate  to 
the  glory  and  the  dignity  of  a  bailiff.  They  sought 
a  phrase  :  they  thumbed  the  dictionaries  ;  perhaps 
they  even  had  advice  from  the  chapter  of  Stras- 
burg ;  and  behold,  what  they  finally  inscribed  on 
the  walls  of  the  church : 

Sub  hoc  tumulo  requiescit  in  Domino 

MARIA  ODILIA  BEHR 
Francisci  Joseph  Bartman  salrapae 
In  Bersch 
Conjux  dilectissima 

Beneath  this  stone  rests  in  the  Lord 
Maria  Odilia  Behr 
The  most  charming  wife 
Of  the  satrap  Franciscus  Joseph  Bartman 

In  Bersch. 

After  seeing  this  I  left  Boersch ;  I  passed  under 
the  old  gate  of  the  fourteenth  century;  I  turned 
about  to  behold  once  more  the  ruins  of  the  ram- 
parts half  hidden  in  verdure.    At  this  moment  I 


Saint-Leonard 


137 


met  a  vinedresser  who,  basket  on  back,  passed 
on  the  road.  "She  is  a  descendant  of  the  satrap, " 
said  the  worthy  Alsatian  who  did  me  the  honors  of 
Boersch.  And  I  imagine  that  a  century  and  a 
half  ago  the  satrap  also  must  have  gone  to  his 
vines  with  his  basket  on  his  back.  Nothing 
changes  in  Alsace,  neither  houses  nor  men.  .  .  . 
But  who  could  have  even  imagined  the  translation 
of  bailiff  by  satrap  ?  Was  it  a  canon  of  Strasburg 
who  had  in  his  veins  some  of  the  romantic  blood 
of  Provence?  Was  it  the  curate  of  Boersch,  who 
desired  to  flatter  the  chapter  by  comparing  it  to 
the  king  of  the  Persians  (Note  20)  ? 

Saint-Leonard.  —  Formerly,  a  collegiate  church 
rose  upon  the  little  hillside  clothed  with  vines,  at 
the  foot  of  which  the  Ehn  rivulet  flows  among 
the  columns.  Around  it  clustered  the  houses 
of  the  canons,  who,  since  the  Middle  Ages,  had 
replaced  the  Benedictine  monks.  The  Revolu- 
tion suppressed  the  chapter  and  razed  the  church. 
A  few  fragments  of  the  church  were  preserved 
in  a  chapel  of  the  Capuchins  of  Obernai.  As 
to  the  houses,  some  were  demolished  and  the 
others  sold.  Since  then,  the  little  hamlet  of 
Saint-Leonard  has  not  passed  the  limits  of  the 
ancient  enclosure  and  has  preserved  its  canonical 
appearance.    In  the  midst  of  the  great  vineyards 


138  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


it  seems  like  a  happy  isle  where  everything  invites 
one  to  savor  the  grace  of  the  country  and  the 
magnificence  of  the  outlook. 

Here  ends  the  plain.  Half  a  league  beyond 
are  the  steep  slopes  of  the  Vosges,  the  narrow  and 
deep  valleys,  the  summits  crowned  with  ruined 
castles,  and,  in  the  center  of  a  wide  semicircle  of 
forests,  Mont  Sainte-Odile.  From  Saint-Leonard 
we  see  in  all  their  perfection  the  harmonious  forms 
of  this  mountain,  predestined  by  its  beauty  to 
become  the  sacred  place  of  Alsace. 

In  this  hamlet  dwells  M.  Charles  Spindler,  today 
the  most  celebrated  of  the  Alsatian  artists.  Since 
the  Universal  Exposition  of  1900,  where  his  works 
were  so  much  admired,  his  name  is  well  known  to 
the  French  public.  He  is  a  painter  and  a  designer. 
He  executed  for  Les  Oberle  by  M.  Bazin  a  series  of 
touching  illustrations.  The  compositions  which 
he  previously  made  to  illustrate  the  moving  ballad 
of  M.  Jacques  Flach,  Le  Chevalier  du  Rosemont, 
prove  that  he  knows  how  to  render  the  poetry  of 
the  old  legends  of  his  country.  But  he  consecrates 
the  best  and  most  original  part  of  his  talent  to  the 
design,  construction,  and  decoration  of  furniture. 
Marquetry  is  an  art  of  which  he  is  past  master. 

He  emulates,  frequently  with  the  most  happy 
results,  the  art  of  Galie  and  of  Majorelle.  He 
seizes  with  an  almost  infallible  glance  the  most 


Saint-Leonard 


139 


minute  differences  of  shade  in  the  bits  of  wood 
which  he  assembles.  He  excels  in  utilizing  either 
for  the  background  of  his  pictures  or  for  the  skies 
of  his  landscapes  the  natural  designs  of  the  wood, 
the  accidents  of  vein  and  fiber.  It  is  the  same 
material  which,  most  delicately  studied,  furnishes 
the  most  happy  effects  of  his  panels.  An  admi- 
rable virtuosity,  but  one  which  would  produce 
only  expensive  curios  if  his  taste  were  not  subject 
to  a  strong  discipline. 

The  source  of  Spindler's  discipline  is  his  knowl- 
edge of  and  respect  for  Alsatian  tradition,  that 
tradition  whose  survival  I  have  tried  to  demon- 
strate by  describing  some  of  the  peasants'  homes. 
The  strength  of  the  artist  rests  in  his  attachment 
to  his  country  and  his  quiet  persistence  in  remain- 
ing an  Alsatian. 

He  was  born  a  few  steps  from  here  in  an  old 
house  at  Boersch.  He  lives  at  Saint-Leonard,  in 
his  little  canonical  house.  He  is  a  simple  man, 
blonde  and  deliberate,  a  perfect  example  of  his 
race,  of  which  he  has  the  light  eyes,  the  slow  pace, 
and  the  restrained  good  nature.  He  has  collected 
and  trained  some  artisans  who  saw  and  plane  in  a 
great  workshop.  There  he  told  me  in  a  few  words 
his  experiments  and  methods ;  he  told  me  also  of 
his  work  done  for  Americans,  and  that  seemed  an 
unbelievable  paradox  in  this  silent  retreat  at  the 


140  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


foot  of  Mont  Sainte-Odile !  But  this  man  can 
work  for  America  without  peril.  We  divine  that 
he  is  so  powerfully  rooted  in  his  natal  soil  that  the 
seductions  of  a  call  abroad  are  not  to  be  feared 
for  him. 

He  is  not  satisfied  to  borrow  motives  for  his 
marquetry  from  the  flora  and  the  landscapes  of 
Alsace.  He  is  inspired  by  the  popular  art  of  his 
country.  He  adds  the  grace  of  a  more  refined 
decoration,  of  a  rarer  taste,  to  the  forms  which 
he  had  before  him.  But  he  is  a  true  successor  of 
those  village  cabinetmakers  who  have  for  cen- 
turies maintained  the  Alsatian  house  in  its  un- 
changeable and  charming  beauty.  I  said  just  now 
that  he  created  and  constructed  furniture.  The 
word  is  not  exactly  correct.  An  Alsatian  interior 
—  I  have  described  it  in  a  preceding  chapter  — ■ 
contains  very  little  furniture,  properly  speaking : 
merely  a  table  and  a  few  stools.  The  long  bench 
and  all  the  cupboards  are  part  of  the  woodwork 
with  which  the  whole  room  is  paneled.  M. 
Spindler  endeavors  to  retain  this  arrangement, 
which,  I  admit,  would  be  ill  adapted  to  modern 
apartments,  true  encampments  of  nomads,  but 
which  by  its  character  of  permanence  and  fixity 
suits  a  hereditary  home. 

This  faithfulness  to  tradition  has  saved  him 
from  a  great  peril  which  artists  perhaps  better 


Ottrott 


141 


endowed,  perhaps  more  cultivated  than  he,  but 
without  defence  against  the  surprises  of  fashion 
did  not  know  how  to  avoid.  The  modern  style  has 
dashed  itself  to  pieces  against  the  solid  and  crafty- 
good  sense  of  the  Alsatian.  It  sometimes  in- 
fluenced very  lightly  the  earlier  works  of  Spindler  : 
we  might  discover  there  a  few  of  those  weak  and 
undecided  lines  which  are  the  mark  of  the  art 
nouveau.  But  this  seed  of  folly  could  not  sprout 
in  the  healthy  climate  of  Saint-Leonard.  M. 
Spindler  builds  chairs  in  which  one  can  sit  without 
constraint,  robust  tables  which  are  solidly  estab- 
lished on  their  four  feet,  and  practical  presses 
where  one  can  pile  up  linen  and  table  wear.  As 
to  the  decoration,  we  must  have  seen  in  the  new 
quarters  of  Strasburg  specimens  of  the  Germanic 
"modern  style/'  those  frightful  combinations  of 
old  German  bric-a-brac  and  Belgian  rubbish,  to 
understand  the  true  originality  of  M.  Spindler  .  .  . 
and  of  Alsatian  art. 

Ottrott.  —  As  I  entered  the  village  of  Ottrott, 
I  saw  exposed,  before  the  door  of  the  Swan  inn, 
the  bier  of  a  French  officer.  On  his  coffin  were 
placed  his  cap  of  a  captain  of  artillery,  his  saber, 
his  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  his  military  medal, 
his  medals  of  Crimea  and  Italy. 

A  few  instants  later  the  funeral  train  appeared 


142  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


in  the  long  ascending  street,  preceded  by  the 
crucifix  and  the  priest.  Except  a  few  foresters  in 
gray  and  green  uniform  and  the  postmaster  in 
tunic  and  belt,  with  a  pointed  helmet,  the  men  who 
followed  the  bier  all  wore  tall  silk  hats  and  black 
frock  coats.  Then  came  in  two  regular  files  the 
women  in  full  mourning.  The  men  were  very 
grave  and  did  not  speak  a  word  to  each  other; 
the  women  wept. 

Having  arrived  at  the  church,  which  stands  on 
a  high  terrace,  the  procession  slowly  climbed  the 
slope  under  the  trees,  still  in  the  same  order,  still 
with  the  same  measured  pace,  and  disappeared 
under  the  porch.  The  solemn  observance  of  the 
rites  gave  to  this  scene  an  indescribable  grandeur. 

All  the  children  of  Ottrott  were  crowded  to- 
gether in  the  square,  awed  into  silence  by  the 
sight  of  the  old  cap,  the  saber,  and  the  medals.  .  .  . 

I  desired  to  know  who  was  this  officer,  whose 
mortal  remains  were  thus  carried  to  the  cemetery 
of  Ottrott,  thirty- three  years  after  Ottrott  had 
ceased  to  be  French  soil.  I  was  told:  "He  was 
called  M.  de  Boxtel,  and  served  in  the  artillery; 
he  fought  in  the  Crimea,  in  Italy,  in  1870 :  later, 
when  he  had  retired  with  the  rank  of  captain,  he 
returned  to  Alsace  and  withdrew  to  Ottrott, 
where  his  brother  was  pensioned  as  a  forestry 
brigadier.    He  married  the  daughter  of  an  inn- 


Sainte-Odile 


143 


keeper.  When  his  mother-in-law  died,  his  sister 
took  over  the  management  of  the  Swan  and  he 
lived  in  the  house.  The  captain,  as  we  called  him, 
appeared  in  the  public  rooms  only  to  play  a  game 
of  piquet  with  a  few  old  friends.  It  was  touching 
to  see  with  what  care  he  tried  to  safeguard  his 
dignity  as  a  former  officer.  He  had  none  of  the 
characteristics  of  a  gentleman  innkeeper,  and 
strangers  would  have  taken  him  for  a  guest.  We 
esteemed  him  highly,  and  loved  him  well.  .  .  .  He 
was  a  relic  of  Old  Alsace,  which  is  disappearing." 

Sainte-Odile.  — -  It  is  terribly  sad  to  return  to 
a  place  which  one  has  formerly  admired,  to  find  it 
ravaged  by  the  foolishness  of  men. 

If  you  have  ever  felt  the  moving  beauty  of  that 
grand  terrace  of  Sainte-Odile  whence,  as  "from  a 
peak  in  Darien,"  the  view  stretches  across  the 
whole  plain  of  Alsace,  even  to  the  spire  of  Stras- 
burg,  preserve  that  image  in  your  memory  and  do 
not  yield  to  the  temptation  of  reviving  it  by  a  new 
pilgrimage.  Years  ago  the  convent  was  trans- 
formed into  a  hotel,  then  the  hotel  into  a  boarding 
house,  and  all  this  tourist  accommodation  troubled 
somewhat  the  peace  and  meditation  which  one 
would  have  wished  to  find  in  the  sanctuary  of 
Alsace,  in  sight  of  this  sublime  horizon.  Last 
year,  however,  a  traveler  could  write  this :  "  We 


144  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


quickly  shake  off  this  disagreeable  impression  on 
the  terrace,  the  marvelous  terrace,  whence  one 
looks  over  a  veritable  chaos  of  forests  and  whence 
we  can  see,  it  is  said,  twenty  towns  and  three 
hundred  villages.  .  .  ."  That  is  ended.  This 
year  the  same  traveler  was  unable  to  recognize 
the  marvelous  terrace.  On  one  of  the  sides  has 
been  built  an  immense  barrack  which  cuts  off  the 
view,  a  frightful  Germanic  restaurant  building, 
built  of  colored  tiles !  The  venerable  platform, 
consecrated  by  the  legend,  is  turned  into  an 
abominable  public  house.  Who  has  been  able  to 
persuade  the  hotel-keeping  nuns  to  allow  such  a 
sacrilege  (Note  21)  ? 

...  I  descended  through  the  woods  to  the 
bottom  of  a  large  valley  where  in  the  midst  of  the 
fields  rise  the  ruins  of  the  convent  of  Nieder- 
munster.  The  Romanesque  arch  of  the  ruined 
church  frames  a  quiet  and  melancholy  picture.  It 
is  a  landscape  perfectly  adapted  to  awaken  rev- 
erie, and  I  there  thought  of  the  days  which  I 
had  just  employed  in  traveling  about  Alsace  and 
in  which  I  have  yielded  so  easily  to  its  charms. 
For  its  seduction  is  irresistible,  and  no  one  can  leave 
it  without  leaving  something  of  himself  behind. 

It  pleases  by  the  contrasts  of  its  grand  aspects : 
seen  from  the  plain,  the  outline  of  the  Vosges 
against  the  horizon  is  a  proud  and  noble  master- 


Sainte-Odile 


145 


piece ;  more  admirable  still  is  the  spectacle  which 
we  discover  from  the  slopes  of  the  mountain 
chain,  the  immensity  of  the  plain  over  which  we 
see  alternately  floating  mists  of  silver  and  flying 
tragic  shadows  of  clouds.  It  pleases  also  by  the 
fine  composition  of  the  pictures  which  appear 
everywhere  as  you  breast  the  summits,  turn  the 
corners  of  valleys,  or  emerge  from  the  forests.  It 
pleases  by  the  perfection  of  its  landscape  settings, 
the  shimmering  softness  of  the  light,  the  freshness 
of  its  perfumed  vineyards. 

It  possesses  the  singular  attractiveness  of  a 
country  where  the  life  of  today  mingles  with  the 
life  of  the  past.  We  cannot  understand  it  except 
by  questioning  history.  To  discover  the  reason 
for  its  present  existence  we  must  retrace  the  course 
of  years  and  even  of  centuries.  Elsewhere  the 
monuments  of  former  days  often  evoke  only 
vanished  traditions  and  customs  which  have  dis- 
appeared ;  they  have  no  further  value  than  to 
excite  the  sentimentality  of  the  poet  or  the  curios- 
ity of  the  antiquary.  Here  nothing  dies.  It  is 
delightful  to  decipher  the  secret  of  today,  perhaps 
that  of  tomorrow,  in  relics  which  elsewhere  would 
be  food  for  the  archeologist. 

Alsace  perplexes  us  and  yet  holds  us  by  the 
originality  of  its  temperament  and  culture.  Some 
writers  have  found  in  its  genius  only  a  compound 


146  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


of  French  character  and  German  character.  It 
has  been  said  that  its  sensibility  was  German  and 
its  intelligence  French ;  that  it  thought  in  French 
and  sang  in  German ;  that  its  public  life  resembled 
ours,  while  its  sentimental  life  was  like  that  of  our 
neighbors  beyond  the  Rhine.  There  is  a  certain 
degree  of  truth  in  this  method  of  denning  certain 
inclinations  and  certain  oppositions.  But  when 
we  listen  to  the  Alsatians  and  consider  their  ways 
of  living,  of  feeling,  and  of  thinking,  the  same 
thought  recurs  a  hundred  times :  "This  is  neither 
German  nor  French."  I  would  not  dare  to 
attempt  to  define  all  the  peculiarities  which  are 
properly  Alsatian :  attempting  it,  I  have  only 
been  able  to  feel  a  few  of  them.  But  the  thought 
that  we  are  going  to  penetrate  into  an  unknown 
little  world  gives  every  ramble  and  every  con- 
versation here  an  extraordinary  interest. 

All  this,  which  would  enchant  the  eyes,  the 
imagination,  and  the  curiosity  of  a  traveler  from 
any  foreign  country,  becomes  for  us  French  a  cause 
of  trouble  and  emotion.  We  cannot  travel  in 
Alsace  as  indifferent  and  amused  tourists  :  between 
it  and  us  is  an  ineffaceable,  an  indissoluble  bond. 
By  reason  of  this  our  first  sentiment  is  one  of 
sadness  and  confusion.  The  sight  of  so  much 
richness  and  beauty  revives  the  grief  of  the  in- 
curable wound,  and  we  blush  for  our  short  mem- 


Sainte-Odile 


147 


ory  in  the  presence  of  these  men  who  have  forgot- 
ten nothing.  How  many  of  our  countrymen  have 
been  dissuaded  from  visiting  Alsace  by  asking 
themselves  if  it  would  not  be  as  cruel  for  them  to 
see  it  obstinate  in  its  remembrance  as  to  find  it 
gone  over  to  its  new  masters !  They  were  wrong. 
Alsace  has  long  believed  that  France  would  come 
to  deliver  it  and  repossess  it.  If  this  conviction 
had  not  been  firmly  fixed  in  every  mind,  the 
number  of  emigrants  would  have  been  much  higher 
than  it  was  during  the  years  which  followed  the 
annexation.  France  did  not  come,  and  Alsace 
has  lived  its  life  under  German  domination, . 
relying  upon  itself,  no  longer  expecting  anything 
save  from  its  own  energy  and  the  chances  of  fate. 
As  the  least  we  can  give,  it  claims  from  us  that 
fidelity  of  heart  which  it  has  so  well  retained  for  us, 
and  insists  that  we  shall  not  feign  to  ignore  it. 
Its  eyes  no  longer  reproach  us  for  anything.  It 
receives  us  with  a  smile  and  discovers  at  the  back 
of  its  brain  that  French  which  the  German  school- 
masters have  not  been  able  to  make  it  unlearn. 
An  old  Alsatian  said  to  me  the  other  day,  to 
excuse  his  terrible  accent :  "For  thirty  years  only 
square  words  have  gone  through  my  throat !" 
And  this,  I  believe,  is  for  us  the  supreme  charm  of 
Alsace :  here,  in  all  glances,  we  read  a  welcome 
and  an  assurance  of  friendship. 


XI 


"IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  GERMANY," 
BY  M.  MAURICE  BARRES 

TO  penetrate  the  secret  of  the  destinies  of 
Alsace,  there  is  no  more  propitious  spot 
than  Mont  Sainte-Odile.  From  this  bold 
promontory  the  eye  embraces  the  immense  plain 
which  since  prehistoric  time  has  been  swept  by 
the  flux  and  reflux  of  invasion.  Here  mysterious 
stones,  ruins,  legends,  attest  the  antiquity  of  the 
combats  in  which  grappled  two  races,  two  civiliza- 
tions. The  moving  majesty  of  the  forest  and  the 
horizon  renders  a  reverie  in  this  spot  more  ardent ; 
and,  at  the  sight  of  the  pilgrims  who  day  by  day 
swarm  up  the  mountain  paths,  one  may  under- 
stand that  Sainte-Odile  is  the  guardian  of  the 
memories  and  the  traditions  of  a  people. 

It  was  therefore  natural  that,  before  studying 
"the  long  tragedy  which  was  played  along  the 
Rhine  by  Romanism  and  Germany,"  a  writer 
should  commence  by  making  the  pilgrimage  to 
Sainte-Odile  and  by  questioning  the  rocks,  the 
forests,  and  the  pilgrims  of  the  sacred  mount. 

148 


"  In  the  Service  of  Germany  "  149 


M.  Maurice  Barres  did  not  omit  this ;  he  lingered 
for  a  whole  autumn  in  the  woods  of  the  Hohen- 
burg.  He  savored  its  persuasive  beauty.  He 
followed  and  noted,  an  entranced  spectator,  the 
play  of  sun  and  clouds  over  the  plain  of  Alsace, 
the  change  of  colors  and  the  passing  of  the  mists 
in  the  decline  of  the  year.  Following  a  method 
which  is  dear  to  him,  —  dialectic  always  mingles 
in  his  descriptions  as  in  his  rhythm,  —  he  has  ex- 
pressed all  the  sentiment  and  history  which  can 
be  found  in  these  landscapes.  Then,  in  this 
marvelous  setting,  he  has  placed  the  legend  of 
Saint  Odile,  that  pagan  maid,  who  in  the  seventh 
century  turned  Alsace  to  Christianity  and  made 
it  submit  to  Latin  genius.  This  legend  has  there- 
fore appeared  to  him  as  the  symbol  of  the  perma- 
nent will  of  Alsace.  " Odile,"  he  says,  .  . 
represents  an  ideal  of  peace,  of  charity,  of  dis- 
cipline, even  of  morality,  which  analysis  can 
separate  from  Catholicism,  but  which,  formed  in 
the  shadow  of  churches,  forever  carries  their  mark. 
Odile  is  the  name  of  a  Latin  victory,  it  is  also  an 
Alsatian  sigh  of  relief :  a  commemoration  of  public 
safety."  And  this  meditation  ends  with  the  fol- 
lowing phrase,  which,  for  M.  Barres,  sums  up  the 
whole  history  of  the  Alsatian  people :  "The  con- 
stant tendency  of  the  people  of  Alsace-Lorraine  is 
to  Romanize  the  Germans." 


150  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


If  such  is  indeed  the  lesson  given  by  history, 
legend,  and  archeology,  if  the  hereditary  mission 
of  Alsace  is  to  be  the  " march"  of  Latin  civiliza- 
tion, how  can  this  task  be  fulfilled  today  by  a 
people  which  for  thirty-four  years  has  lain  under 
the  law  of  the  conqueror,  and  upon  which  Ger- 
many presses  with  all  the  weight  of  its  power  and 
its  glory?  When  we  consent  to  look  calmly  at 
the  affairs  of  Alsace  we  cannot  avoid  this  question. 

M.  Barres  was  not  the  first  to  put  it.  But  he 
has  established  the  historic  and  moral  data  of  the 
problem  with  the  vigor  and  pathos  which  are 
characteristic  of  him :  these  pages  on  Mont 
Sainte-Odile  would  be  an  admirable  overture  — 
he  himself  suggests  this  expression  —  well  fitted 
to  magnify  the  drama  of  conscience  which  it  an- 
nounces, if,  by  a  disconcerting  caprice  of  arrange- 
ment, they  were  not  intercalated  in  the  book  in- 
stead of  forming  its  introduction. 

As  to  the  solution  itself,  a  young  Alsatian 
citizen  assumes  the  task  of  furnishing  it  to  M. 
Barres.  His  portrait  and  his  confidences  form 
the  subject  of  this  book,  which  is  no  invention  of 
the  novelist,  as  those  who  know  the  Alsace  of  to- 
day can  testify. 

Paul  Ehrmann  was  born  at  Logelbach,  near 
Colmar,  in  1880.    His  father,  a  factory  manager, 


"  In  the  Service  of  Germany  99  151 


had  refused  to  emigrate  at  the  end  of  the  war ; 
faithful  to  the  memory  of  France,  he  had  never- 
theless thought  that  his  duty  as  an  Alsatian  was 
in  Alsace.  The  boy  was  schooled  in  the  gym- 
nasium of  Colmar,  but  received  a  French  educa- 
tion in  his  home.  About  him  he  saw  that  those 
of  his  countrymen  who  were  guilty  of  a  regret  or 
a  hope,  were  denounced,  humiliated,  and  famished. 
He  grew  up  in  an  atmosphere  of  conspiracy  and 
terror,  and  reacted  against  the  influences  and  the 
threats  of  the  conqueror  with  all  the  strength  of 
his  hereditary  instincts.  He  took  a  medical 
course  at  the  University  of  Strasburg  and  arrived 
at  the  age  when  he  must  serve  for  six  months  in  a 
German  regiment. 

"My  life,"  said  he,  "till  then,  had  been  only  a 
prologue :  in  October,  1902,  the  drama  com- 
menced. .  .  It  is  this  drama  that  M.  Barres 
has  told  us,  allowing  the  hero  to  relate  it  in  his 
own  words.  But  as  a  preliminary,  to  acquaint 
us  with  his  character,  and  to  make  us  better 
understand  the  trend  of  his  confidences,  he  has 
invented  an  anecdote  in  which  are  shown  with 
delicate  art  the  Alsatian,  purely  Alsatian,  shades 
of  character  of  Paul  Ehrmann. 

In  an  inn  of  the  little  town  of  Mar  sal,  in  Lor- 
raine, a  French  sportsman,  M.  Pierre  Le  Sourd, 
pronounces  before  M.  Ehrmann  this  phrase:  "I 


152  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


esteem,  whatever  may  happen  to  them  later,  the 
poor  devils  who  pass  the  frontier  more  highly 
than  the  renegades,  who,  for  fear  of  the  Foreign 
Legion,  wear  the  spiked  helmet.''  To  which  M. 
Ehrmann  replies:  "I  am  a  good  Alsatian.  In  a 
week  I  shall  enter  the  barracks  of  Strasburg, 
Monsieur,  and  I  must  demand  that  you  with- 
draw the  words  renegade  and  fear  which  you  have 
just  used/'  The  Frenchman  declares  that  what 
is  said  is  said ;  a  meeting  is  decided  upon.  In 
order  not  to  disclose  the  affair,  the  duel  occurs 
in  the  park  of  the  castle  where  M.  Le  Sourd  is 
staying,  which  belongs  to  his  sister,  the  Countess 
of  Aoury.  At  the  first  encounter,  the  sportsman 
is  touched  in  the  arm.  M.  Ehrmann  remains  a 
day  at  the  castle.  Madame  d' Aoury  employs  all 
her  Parisian  talents  to  make  up  for  the  weariness 
of  the  waiting,  and  to  expiate  the  clumsy  in- 
solence of  her  brother. 

The  scene  is  charming.  It  is  equivalent  to  a 
treatise  on  national  psychology:  " During  this 
meal  the  oscillations  of  her  moods,  her  tact,  her 
versatility,  in  a  word  her  art,  which  Germans 
would  have  misconceived  and  treated  as  frivolity, 
were  made  still  more  noticeable  by  the  very  con- 
trast which  she  offered  to  this  young  Alsatian, 
who  could  say  nothing  without  complete  explana- 
tion, and  who  even  seemed  to  explain  his  silence 


"  In  the  Service  of  Germany  "  153 


by  at  once  making  it  so  very  evident  that  he  was 
silent.  One  might  have  said  that  both  were 
puppets,  though  gifted  with  intelligence  and 
sympathy.  Although  he  had  numerous  ways  of 
being  Germanic,  M.  Ehrmann  did  not  misunder- 
stand, as  appeared  little  by  little,  what  a  French 
masterpiece  this  young  woman  was.  He  even 
became  touching,  with  his  strength  and  his  youth- 
ful stiffness,  in  his  amazement  before  this 
queen.  .  .  .  Soon  he  had  completely  forgotten 
that  anyone  else  was  there.  And  when  Madame 
d'Aoury  said  unusual  and  charming  things  he 
upset  himself  a  little  by  laughing  too  much  for  a 
whole  minute."  Then  the  simple  and  serious  soul 
of  Ehrmann  unveiled  its  enthusiasms  before  this 
young  woman,  nervous,  variable,  fantastic,  and 
reasonable.  On  going  away,  instead  of  kissing 
the  hand  extended  to  him,  the  Alsatian  holds  it 
in  both  his  own,  and  says  with  an  emotion  which 
disconcerts  Madame  d'Aoury,  for  she  feels  he  is 
laughing  at  her:  "It  is  only  Frenchwomen  who 
can  be  so  generous  and  so  delicate." 

A  few  moments  later,  as  he  crosses  the  park  of 
the  castle  at  sunset,  he  cannot  avoid  making  this 
remark  to  his  companions:  "Imagine  a  fat 
Prussian  woman  in  this  park  instead  of  Madame 
d'Aoury !  Even  if,  under  this  pale  blue  sky,  the 
same  buildings,  the  same  arrangement  of  lawns 


154  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


and  woods  should  remain,  which  I  doubt,  where 
would  be  this  delicacy  and  pride  which  now  over- 
spread the  whole  domain?"  And  another  Al- 
satian, cold  and  taciturn,  who  has  accompanied 
Monsieur  Ehrmann  to  act  as  second  in  his  duel, 
finally  decides  to  break  the  silence  which  he  has 
kept  since  morning:  "I  was  a  little  boy  when 
we  became  German ;  you  are  too  young,  Ehr- 
mann, you  have  not  seen.  ...  As  for  me,  I 
remember  the  French  uniforms  on  the  Broglie 
and  the  Contades.  They  made  the  same  har- 
mony as  the  voice  and  gestures  of  Madame 
d'Aoury  create  in  an  old  estate  in  Lorraine." 

A  week  later  Ehrmann  dons  the  German  uni- 
form, and  as  he  himself  says,  the  drama  com- 
mences. One  can  imagine  nothing  more  poignant 
and  more  grievous. 

An  insurmountable  aversion  separates  him  from 
the  Germans.  Doubtless  with  this  sentiment  is 
mingled  no  thought  of  reprisal :  he  was  born  ten 
years  after  the  siege  of  Strasburg,  he  knows 
neither  the  anger  nor  the  resentment  of  those 
who  were  witnesses  of  the  defeat :  he  can,  never- 
theless, regret  the  French  rule  which  he  has 
never  seen.  What  he  detests  is  less  the  political 
power  of  Germany  established  upon  the  soil  of 
his  province  than  the  constraint  upon  his  tastes, 
his  aspirations,  his  entire  soul,  exercised  by  a 


"In  the  Service  of  Germany  "  155 


conqueror  to  whom  he  proudly  believes  himself 
superior,  while  he  feels  himself  bound  to  France 
by  all  the  ties  of  race,  of  family,  and  of  education. 
He  is  before  all  an  Alsatian,  and  faithfulness  to 
the  French  spirit  appears  to  him  to  be  the  first 
duty  of  Alsace.  Is  he  not  failing  in  his  duty  by 
agreeing  to  become  a  soldier  of  the  German  army  ? 
Is  he  not  betraying  his  intellectual  and  moral 
fatherland  by  associating  his  actions  with  the 
defence  of  Germanized  Alsace?  Why  not  de- 
sert, as  so  many  others  do  every  day? 

He  puts  aside  this  thought,  for  his  father,  by 
remaining  upon  the  soil  of  Alsace,  has  set  his 
course.  He  considers  himself  as  an  " inheritor"; 
he  has  "  neither  the  desire  nor  the  right  to  aban- 
don riches  already  created."  Aware  of  the  great- 
ness of  his  sacrifice,  he  enters  the  barracks.  But, 
from  the  first  day,  when  he  finds  himself  facing 
the  frightful  reality,  when  he  sees  himself  alone 
in  the  midst  of  these  strangers  with  hostile  coun- 
tenances, when  he  feels  himself  "tied  hand  and 
foot,  a  hostage  of  France  in  the  thick  of  the  enemy 
populace,"  the  idea  of  desertion  assails  him  anew. 
By  a  superhuman  effort  of  will  he  banishes  the 
temptation. 

Now  his  choice  is  made.  But  how  can  he  pro- 
ceed so  that  his  acceptance  of  the  situation  shall 
not  appear  a  shameful  hypocrisy?    How  shall 


156  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


he  command  the  respect  of  these  Germans  who 
have  quickly  penetrated  his  inmost  thoughts, 
and  who  are  ready  to  abase  in  his  person  the 
pride  of  rebellious  Alsace? 

Thanks  to  his  French  common  sense  and  his 
Alsatian  honesty,  Ehrmann  soon  discovers  the 
only  path  which  he  can  henceforth  pursue  with 
honor.  "I  will  remain,  I  say  to  myself.  This 
will  be  harder  than  I  imagined,  very  hard,  per- 
haps. Well,  I  will  take  plenty  of  care.  All  of 
my  revolts  which  I  master  will  improve  me,  and 
hatred  will  give  me  more  manliness.  .  .  .  Since 
this  lieutenant  has  every  right  over  my  person, 
including  the  right  to  humiliate  me,  there  is 
only  one  way  out,  which  is  that  I  will  be  an  ex- 
cellent soldier  and  that  I  will  conquer  his  soldierly 
esteem.  I  am  the  only  representative  of  my 
country  among  all  these  Germans :  he  will  be 
tempted  to  say  to  me :  '  Follow  the  example  of 
your  comrades.'  My  ambition  must  be  to  re- 
verse the  roles  and  make  him  recognize  the  mili- 
tary qualities  of  Alsace."  And  Ehrmann  adds : 
"All  this  is  paltry,  Monsieur,  I  know  it.  I  would 
prefer,  like  my  grandfather,  the  soldier  of  the 
Grande  Armee,  to  enter  Berlin  victoriously;  but 
all  that  can  be  required  of  a  man  is  that  he  shall 
fight  his  best  on  the  ground  where  destiny  places 
him." 


"In  the  Service  of  Germany"  157 


Ehrmann  "  fights"  with  tenacious  energy. 
Henceforth  nothing  distracts  him  from  his  pur- 
pose. Punctual,  intelligent,  and  quick  as  a  sol- 
dier, he  grows  in  strength  each  time  that  an 
incident  of  barrack  life  shows  him  his  own  nature 
opposed  to  that  of  his  officers  or  his  comrades. 
He  is  implacable  in  cultivating  in  himself  qualities 
which  they  lack.  He  trembles  with  pride  if  his 
humanity,  his  kindness,  cause  him  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  Franzos.  He  absolves  himself  for  wear- 
ing the  German  uniform  by  thinking  that  the 
men  among  whom  he  is  condemned  to  live  take 
him  for  a  foreigner,  and  esteem  him  without 
thoroughly  understanding  him. 

It  is  a  diary  of  this  effort  of  will  which  M. 
Maurice  Barres  has  put  before  our  eyes.  I  will 
cite  only  the  last  passage  of  this  admirable  re- 
cital ;  it  is  enough  to  show  what  consolations 
could  accrue  to  Ehrmann  from  his  heroic  resig- 
nation. The  very  day  when  he  leaves  the  service, 
having  learned  that  a  non-commissioned  officer  had 
just  lost  his  little  daughter,  he  has  a  wreath  placed 
upon  the  coffin  of  the  child.  "A  wreath?"  his 
comrades  say  to  him,  "but  why  do  it?  You  leave 
the  service  today."  The  next  day  the  sergeant 
rushes  into  his  room  and  presses  both  his  hands : 
"You  have  a  great  heart,  Monsieur  Ehrmann. 
At  the  very  moment  when  I  can  no  longer  do 


158  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


anything  for  you !  Monsieur,  one  must  say  it, 
the  French  have  more  humanity  than  others." 
And  Ehrmann  adds:  "He  has  treated  me  as  a 
Frenchman !  It  was  the  last  word  I  heard  in  that 
barrack,  and  one  of  those  which  have  given  me  the 
greatest  pleasure  in  life." 

I  have  felt  it  worth  while  to  summarize  at 
length  In  the  Service  of  Germany  and  to  transcribe 
several  of  the  passages  where  M.  Maurice  Barres 
has  clearly  defined  the  motive  of  his  book.  For 
this  story  is  not  only  a  fine  work  of  art,  perhaps 
the  most  finished  that  its  author  has  produced, 
the  one  in  which  he  has  expressed  the  energy  and 
the  complexity  of  his  thought  with  the  most 
strength,  with  the  greatest  ease,  in  the  most  con- 
tinuously harmonious  fashion,  but  it  is  also  a  his- 
toric document. 

Here  is  an  image  of  Alsace  calculated  to  shock 
French  sentimentality  and  German  prejudices. 
Doubtless  it  will  not  surprise  those  who  have  for 
years  carefully  followed  what  has  been  said  and 
written  beyond  the  Vosges.  But  no  writer  had 
yet  showed  in  a  concrete,  living,  and  dramatic 
form,  the  eternal  dislikes  of  Alsace  and  its  new 
tactics.  Oberle,  by  crossing  the  French  frontier, 
was  obeying  that  sentimental  discipline  which, 
since  the  annexation  the  £lite  of  the  Alsatian 


"In  the  Service  of  Germany "  159 


population  has  imposed  upon  itself.  Ehrmann 
conceived  his  duty  otherwise :  in  consenting  to 
serve  in  a  German  barrack,  he  does  not  believe 
that  he  is  paying  too  heavy  a  ransom  for  the 
right  of  remaining  faithful  to  the  hearths  and 
gods  of  his  ancestors,  of  maintaining  the  tastes, 
the  manners,  the  ways  of  living,  thinking  and  feel- 
ing, which  are  for  him  the  very  essence  of  Alsace. 

Frenchmen  may  not  pronounce  between  Ehr- 
mann and  Oberle ;  they  have  lost  the  right  to 
judge  the  Alsatians.  But  we  must  pity  the  man 
who  could  not  admire  the  noble  conduct  of  Ehr- 
mann, and  who  could  not  understand  the  advan- 
tages which  result  from  it  for  Alsace  and  possibly 
for  France. 

This  Alsatian  character  who,  under  the  Prus- 
sian helmet,  preserves  a  French  brain,  may  appear 
to  some  of  us  improbable  or  at  least  exceptional. 
It  would  doubtless  be  childish  to  believe  that  all 
the  young  Alsatians  who  undergo  military  service 
in  German  regiments  are  like  the  type  described 
by  M.  Barres.  Men  of  a  character  as  masculine 
and  a  conscience  as  acute  are  very  rare ;  we  are 
not  accustomed  to  meet  so  much  intelligence 
combined  with  so  much  passion.  But  that  the 
sentiments  and  thoughts  incarnate  in  Ehrmann 
are  today  common  to  a  great  number  of  young 
Alsatians,  is  proved  by  a  thousand  minor  facts 


160  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


which  I  have  already  observed  in  my  travels  in 
Alsace. 

We  may  notice  that  this  M.  Ehrmann  resembles 
M.  Barres  in  a  very  surprising  manner,  that  he 
reproduces  with  singular  persistency  the  theories, 
the  formulas,  and  even  the  language  of  the  na- 
tionalist writer,  and  while  assuming  that  the 
painter  has  put  much  of  himself  into  this  portrait 
we  may  suspect  that  the  result  is  not  true  to 
nature.  This  mistrust  would  be  quite  natural, 
but  also  very  unjust.  The  resemblance  which 
we  here  observe  between  the  author  and  his 
hero  is  a  mark  of  truth.  In  France  the  tradi- 
tionalist thesis  of  M.  Maurice  Barres  won  a  few 
fervent  disciples ;  but  it  was  quickly  debased  to 
the  lowest  level,  that  of  political  argument ;  even 
those  who  accepted  it  most  willingly  as  a  good 
rule  of  thought,  a  wise  discipline  of  intelligence, 
revolted  against  the  deductions  which  partisans 
wish  to  draw  from  it.  In  Alsace,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  ideas  of  M.  Barres  have  found  ac- 
ceptance because  they  were  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  conditions  of  a  small  population,  obliged 
to  react  perpetually  against  foreign  influences  and 
to  reunite  each  day  the  threads  of  tradition 
broken  by  the  conqueror.  What  these  young 
Alsatians  desired  in  a  confused  way  was  to  attach 
themselves  to  their  land,  to  continue  the  work 


"  In  the  Service  of  Germany  "  161 


of  their  dead,  to  take  fast  root.  They  found  in 
the  books  of  M.  Barres  very  beautiful  formulas, 
clearly  expressed,  and  explained  with  the  per- 
sistence of  a  doctrinaire,  a  well-reasoned  ob- 
stinacy which  was  not  displeasing  to  Alsatian 
heads.  That  is  why  their  articles  and  their 
speeches  are  impregnated  with  "Barresism."  M. 
Ehrmann  speaks  and  talks  as  a  good  disciple. 
This  is  quite  true  to  life. 

This  character  is  therefore  not  an  imaginary 
being,  but  it  will  be  asked  if  he  is  not  chasing 
a  phantom :  after  thirty-four  years  of  German 
domination  what  can  a  will,  even  though  heroic, 
accomplish  against  the  school  and  the  barrack, 
against  all  the  prestige  and  power  of  the  con- 
queror, against  his  brutality,  against  his  skill, 
against  the  partisan  spirit  which  divides  the  Al- 
satian people,  against  the  demoralizing  spectacle 
of  affairs  in  France?  It  will  be  said  that  Alsace 
has  no  longer  any  bonds  with  France,  either 
political  —  the  conquest  has  broken  them,  —  or 
economic  —  French  protection  has  suppressed  all 
commercial  relations,  —  or  religious  —  the  Catho- 
lic clergy  is  almost  wholly  affiliated  with  the  Ger- 
man Center  party :  facing  these  realities,  what 
avails  it  to  continue  to  struggle  against  Germani- 
zation?    That  is  accomplished. 


162  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


This  is  a  sordid  and  material  way  of  looking  at 
the  Alsatian  question :  yet  it  is  far  too  common 
in  France.  Ehrmann  reasons  in  another  fashion. 
"He  does  not  define  the  French  quality  of  Alsace 
by  the  fact  that  a  French  prefect  may  administer 
Alsace,  nor  in  the  fact  that  a  French  regiment 
may  occupy  the  barrack  on  the  Place  d'Auster- 
litz,  nor  in  the  fact  that  the  manufacturers  of 
Mulhouse  may  ship  their  products  to  Paris. 
These  are  political,  military,  or  economic 
facts.  .  .  Beyond  and  above  these  contin- 
gencies remains  the  only  thing  which,  for  an 
Alsatian,  is  worth  the  trouble  of  being  protected 
and  maintained,  Alsatian  civilization. 

This  is  not  an  empty  and  senseless  word. 

All  the  Germans  who  have  immigrated  to 
Alsace  since  the  annexation  have  found  that 
this  province  was  sweet  and  pleasant  to  dwell 
in,  but  they  have  all  felt  that  they  were  strangers 
there.  If  in  each  town  two  societies  have  grown 
up,  living  entirely  apart  from  each  other,  the 
original  cause  of  this  separation  was  the  resent- 
ment of  the  annexed  population.  But  time  has 
passed  and  the  barriers  were  still  kept  up.  When 
they  are  lowered,  occasionally,  it  is  not  because 
an  Alsatian  has  become  Germanized ;  it  is  because 
a  German  has  succeeded  in  acquiring  Alsatian 
manners  and  tastes,  Alsatian  "culture,"  which 


"  In  the  Service  of  Germany  "  163 


means,  for  the  Germans  make  no  mystery  about 
it,  French  " culture." 

Four  years  ago,  Professor  Werner  Wittich  of 
the  University  of  Strasburg  —  a  German  —  wrote 
an  article  entitled  On  German  Culture  and  French 
Culture  in  Alsace,  sl  carefully  worked  out  and  ex- 
tremely impartial  study.  He  has  analyzed  the 
genius  of  the  two  races  and  shows  that  the  Al- 
satians partake  of  both :  they  are  German,  ac- 
cording to  him,  in  moral  and  intellectual  qualities, 
French  in  democratic  sentiment  and  in  what  he 
denominates  " sense  culture"  (art,  clothing,  cook- 
ery, and  so  forth  .  .  .).  In  his  opinion,  even 
if  Germany  can  successfully  develop  the  German 
elements  which  underlie  the  Alsatian  nature,  she 
cannot  impose  on  Alsace  her  monarchical  and 
aristocratic  spirit,  nor  make  her  forget  what  she 
owes  to  the  art,  the  habits,  and  the  taste  of  France. 
"It  is  not  so  much/7  he  says,  "on  the  movement  of 
Alsatian  spirit  toward  German  genius,  as  on  the 
evolution  of  German  Kultur  toward  French  culture 
that  the  more  or  less  rapid  disappearance  of  the 
differences  which  separate  Germany  from  the  spirit 
of  Alsace  will  depend." 

Whoever  thinks  over  this  avowal  of  a  German 
scientist  who  is  well  acquainted  with  Germany, 
Alsace,  and  France  will  understand  that  the  work 
of  defence  for  which  the  young  Alsatians  persist 


164  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

in  remaining  in  their  fatherland  is  neither  vain 
nor  chimerical.  They  are  completing  the  work 
of  the  Roman  legionaries  on  the  Rhine  and  of 
Odile  on  the  Hohenburg. 


XII 


THE  CASTLE  OF  MARTINSBOURG.  — 
ALFIERI  AND  THE  COUNTESS  OF  AL- 
BANY 


Eguisheim,  we  reach,  a  league  from  the  town, 
the  houses  of  Wettolsheim.  They  occupy  the 
first  slope  which  rises  gently  from  the  plain 
of  Alsace.  Wettolsheim  has  nothing  to  distin- 
guish it  from  so  many  charming  villages  situated 
like  it  at  the  foot  of  the  Vosges,  among  the  vine- 
yards :  wide  gateways  give  entrance  to  its  farm 
courtyards,  surrounded  with  covered  galleries, 
garlanded  with  vines ;  the  clear  mountain  water 
flows  through  the  long  stone  channels  whose 
edges  have  been  worn  into  hollows  where  the 
vinegrowers  have  sharpened  their  knives. 

At  the  end  of  one  of  its  streets  we  enter  by  a 
modest  doorway  the  garden  of  the  castle  of 
Martinsbourg. 

This  castle  is  a  large  and  characterless  build- 
ing.   Successive  restorations  and  reconstructions 


HEN  we  leave  Colmar  and  travel 
toward  the  mountain  which  is  crowned 
by  the  triple  ruin  of  the  towers  of 


165 


166  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


have  deprived  it  of  any  appearance  of  antiquity. 
Martinsbourg  is  said  to  date  from  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. But  it  has  lost  its  towers,  which  have  been 
replaced  by  square  projections.  Looking  at  its 
fagades,  we  might  take  it  for  a  building  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Today  its  only  beauty  is 
its  wonderful  location  and  the  admirable  pictures 
framed  by  each  of  its  windows.  Twice  the  poet 
Alfieri  came  to  this  castle  to  meet  his  adorata 
donna,  Aloisia  de  Stolberg,  Countess  of  Albany. 

Alfieri  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends:  "The  view 
which  we  enjoy  is  admirable;  from  the  terrace, 
and  especially  from  the  second  story  windows,  we 
look  across  the  whole  immense  plain  traversed  by 
the  Rhine  and  so  magnificently  enclosed  by  the 
Vosges  and  the  Black  Forest,  like  the  plain  of 
Pisa.  At  the  foot  of  the  castle,  against  the  moun- 
tain side,  stretches  the  modest  and  smiling  village, 
whose  sight  does  not  weary  the  eye  (che  non  da 
noia  air  occhio),  while  on  the  other  side,  imposing 
even  in  their  ruins,  rise  the  three  castles  of  Eguis- 
heim,  the  ancient  residence  of  the  lords  from 
whom  descended  Pope  Leo  IX.  When  the 
weather  is  clear  and  the  Swiss  snow-peaks  ap- 
pear, notching  the  heavens  on  the  horizon,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  greater  variety  of 
aspects,  a  greater  profusion  of  colors.' ' 


EGUISHEIM 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  167 


This  spectacle,  the  very  same  one  which  charmed 
the  vision  of  the  amorous  poet,  we  also  can  con- 
template from  the  terrace  of  modernized  Martins- 
bourg.  It  makes  us  dream  of  the  past.  It  is  of 
little  importance  that  there  is  nothing,  either  in 
the  appearance  or  in  the  furnishing  of  the  castle, 
to  recall  the  memory  of  Alfieri  and  his  friend.  A 
collection  of  curiosities  and  relics,  carefully  labeled, 
cannot  evoke  memories  as  can  a  beautiful  land- 
scape. Our  curiosity  is  too  often  deceived  and 
our  imagination  irritated  when,  imprudent  pil- 
grims, we  desire  to  question  too  closely  the  objects 
among  which  great  men  have  lived  their  poor 
human  lives.  For  the  objects  change  and  lead  us 
into  ridiculous  errors.  Returning  to  the  "  happy 
valley,"  Olympio  no  longer  recognized  the  garden 
which  had  witnessed  his  happiness:  "Our  leafy 
chambers  are  changed  to  thickets ;  the  tree  where 
we  carved  our  motto  is  decayed  or  fallen;  our 
roses  have  been  torn  up  by  little  children  who 
climbed  the  hedges!" 

The  wide  horizons  are  immutable  in  their 
magnificence.  One  verse,  a  single  verse,  written 
in  praise  of  the  plain  of  Alsace,  brilliant,  rich  and 
joyous, 

La  donde  il  pian  traspar  culto  ed  allegro, 

decorates  with  the  spirit  and  the  glory  of  Alfieri 
this  charming  hillside  of  Alsatian  vineyards. 


168  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


In  the  eighteenth  century  Martinsbourg  was 
the  property  of  Joseph  Antoine  Georges  de  Wal- 
court.  He  restored  his  castle  and  to  preserve  to 
posterity  the  memory  of  this  work  built  into  the 
wall  a  stone  tablet  bearing  in  German  this  pom- 
pous inscription  :  "  When  the  eagle  with  two  heads 
and  the  eagle  with  one  made  war,  Joseph  Antoine 
Georges,  Count  of  Walcourt-Rochefort  de  Faing 
Kybourg  and  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Lord 
of  Wettolsheim,  restored  the  castle  of  Martins- 
bourg, destroyed  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and 
built  on  the  ruins  of  the  castle  called  Josephs- 
burg."  Unfortunately,  a  few  years  later,  the 
Sovereign  Council  of  Alsace  notified  the  Sieur 
de  Walcourt  that  he  was  forbidden  to  bear  the 
title  of  Count  which  he  had  assumed  without 
authority,  and  the  inscription  was  buried  in  the 
garden,  whence  it  was  resurrected  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  .  .  . 

This  Walcourt  died  without  issue.  Martins- 
bourg, which  he  had  embellished  and  ornamented 
with  a  garden  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  laby- 
rinth, passed  to  his  grandniece,  the  Canoness 
Catherine  de  Maltzen. 

Mademoiselle  de  Maltzen  was  one  of  the  ladies 
of  honor  of  the  Countess  of  Albany,  wife  of  the 
Pretender  Charles  Edward  Stuart.  She  had  lived 
in  the  intimacy  of  the  countess  at  Rome,  in  the 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  169 


Mutti  Palace,  and  had  then  followed  her  to  Flor- 
ence. When  the  countess  had  separated  from  her 
husband  and  had  been  authorized  by  the  Pope  to 
take  refuge  with  the  Ursulines  at  Rome  the 
canoness  went  back  to  Alsace.  And  we  now 
know  how  Alfieri  was  led  to  Martinsbourg. 

When,  in  the  month  of  August,  1784,  the  Count- 
ess of  Albany  went  to  Alsace,  she  had  just  been 
through  some  terrible  experiences. 

Alo'isia  de  Stolberg,  daughter  of  an  Austrian 
lieutenant-general,  had  been  married  in  1771  to 
the  grandson  of  James  II,  Charles  Edward.  He 
was  fifty-one  years  old ;  she  was  nineteen.  .  .  . 
The  young  hero  who,  twenty-five  years  before, 
had  almost  reconquered  his  kingdom  and  had 
astonished  the  world  by  his  chivalrous  adven- 
tures, was  acquainted  with  all  the  sadnesses  and 
all  the  forfeitures  of  exiled  royalty.  The  court 
of  France  had  abandoned  his  cause;  but,  as  it 
believed  it  to  be  good  politics  to  perpetuate  the 
race  of  Stuart,  it  had  induced  the  Pretender  to 
remarry.  Two  admirable  phrases  of  Chateau- 
briand summarize  the  whole  history  of  this  union  : 
"The  illustrious  exile  married  a  princess  whose 
generous  reputation  has  been  perpetuated  by 
Alfieri.  .  .  .  Toward  the  end  of  his  life,  he 
abandoned  himself  to  wine-bibbing,  an  ignoble 


170  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


passion,  but  through  which  he  at  least  returned 
to  mankind  forgetfulness  for  forgetfulness." 

During  the  winter  of  1777,  Alfieri  was  received 
at  Florence  in  the  family  of  the  Pretender,  who 
had  taken  the  name  of  Count  of  Albany.  He  was 
barely  twenty-nine  years  old,  and  after  a  lazy 
and  disorderly  youth  had  just  decided  impulsively 
that  he  would  become  a  poet.  He  had  come  to 
Tuscany  to  "  unf renchif y "  himself,  and  to  learn 
the  true  idiom  of  his  native  land.  The  two 
masters  of  his  republican  and  aristocratic  imagina- 
tion had  been  Montaigne  and  Plutarch.  His 
heart  burned  with  furious  and  silent  passions. 
He  hesitated  several  weeks  before  following  the 
allurement  of  the  love  with  which  the  countess 
had  inspired  him.  "  Having  ended  by  perceiving 
after  two  months  that  she  was  the  woman  whom 
I  sought,  because,  far  from  finding  in  her  as  among 
the  generality  of  women  an  obstacle  to  literary 
glory,  and  from  seeing  the  love  with  which  she 
inspired  me  disgust  me  with  useful  occupations 
and,  so  to  speak,  diminish  my  power  of  thought, 
I  found  there  on  the  contrary  an  incentive,  an 
encouragement  and  an  example  to  all  that  was 
good,  I  learned  to  know  and  appreciate  so  rare  a 
treasure,  and  then  I  delivered  myself  to  her  with- 
out reserve." 

He  broke  every  bond  with  his  fatherland,  Pied- 


PORTRAIT  OF  ALFIERI 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  171 


mont,  and  settled  at  Florence  in  order  to  pursue 
his  studies  and  his  work  near  his  loved  one. 
When  the  brutalities  of  Charles  Edward  had 
rendered  life  in  common  insupportable  to  the 
countess  and  a  brief  of  Pius  VI  had  permitted 
her  to  retire  to  Rome,  Alfieri  followed  her  there. 
She  dwelt  in  the  house  of  her  brother-in-law, 
Cardinal  York;  he  lived  in  the  Villa  Strozzi, 
situated  in  the  Baths  of  Diocletian.  "In  the 
evening  I  descended  into  the  inhabited  villa, 
and  when  I  had  reposed  myself  from  the  fatigues 
of  study  with  the  sight  of  her  for  whom  alone  I 
lived,  for  whom  alone  I  studied,  I  returned  happy 
to  my  desert  where  I  never  reentered  later  than 
eleven  o'clock." 

The  relatives  of  the  Countess  of  Albany  were 
scandalized  by  these  daily  visits.  Anticipating 
the  order  to  leave  Rome  which  he  was  sure  to 
receive,  Alfieri  departed.  The  separation  lasted 
more  than  a  year.  The  poet  traveled  in  Italy, 
France,  and  England  until  he  learned  that  the 
Pretender  had  finally  consented  to  a  separation 
from  bed  and  board  and  that  the  countess,  hence- 
forth free,  was  about  to  return  to  Switzerland 
and  from  there  to  Alsace.  He  was  then  at  Siena, 
In  twelve  days,  traveling  by  way  of  Trent,  Inns- 
bruck, and  Swabia,  he  arrived  at  Colmar.  Then 
he  found  himself  again  "in  complete  unison  of 


172  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


heart,  mind  and  soul"  and,  " almost  without 
knowing  it,"  he  conceived  three  new  tragedies : 
Agis,  Sophronisba,  Myrrha. 

In  one  of  the  salons  of  the  castle  of  Martins- 
bourg  are  hung  two  small  engravings,  one  repre- 
senting Alfieri  and  the  other  the  Countess  of 
Albany.  It  is  a  pious  thought.  Nevertheless  a 
memory  embarrasses  us,  however  disposed  we  may 
be  to  "see  human  beings  as  they  are,"  as  Sainte- 
Beuve  advises  us  in  his  pleasing  portrait  of  the 
Countess  of  Albany;  these  portraits  have,  with- 
out any  doubt,  been  copied  from  the  paintings  of 
Fabre. 

Stendhal,  in  Rome,  Naples  and  Florence,  has 
introduced  this  treacherous  phrase:  "There  are 
excellent  portraits  of  Alfieri  by  M.  Fabre,  a  young 
French  painter,  who  lived  in  the  same  house." 
Since  then,  all  the  veils  have  been  rent.  And 
doubtless  Sainte-Beuve  had  full  reason  when  he 
wrote:  "The  only  completely  involuntary  wrong 
of  the  countess  was  to  live  and  to  survive :  '  I 
live  because  I  cannot  die,'  she  said.  As  long  as 
she  had  to  live  she  should  have  arranged  her  life 
rightly.  Can  one  make  of  it  a  wrong  and  a 
task?  She  only  obeyed  the  law  of  years  and 
the  decline  of  the  seasons.  She  came  down  a 
bit.  .  .  ."    Just  the  same  it  is  tiresome  to  be 


PORTRAIT  OF  THE  COUNTESS  OF  ALBANY 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  173 


obliged  to  think  of  Fabre,  in  this  castle,  where 
Alfieri  was  so  perfectly  loved. 

Let  us  leave  these  unpleasant  thoughts.  If  we 
wish  to  know  the  guests  of  Martinsbourg,  here 
are  two  portraits  which  we  can  contemplate  with- 
out scruple  :  both  are  from  the  pen  of  Alfieri. 

"  Perfectly  black  eyes,  full  of  a  gentle  flame, 
joined  (a  rare  thing)  to  a  very  white  skin  and 
blonde  hair,  gave  her  beauty  a  splendor  by  which 
it  was  difficult  not  to  be  stupefied,  and  from 
which  one  escaped  with  difficulty.  She  was 
twenty-five,  had  a  very  lively  taste  for  literature 
and  fine  arts,  and  the  character  of  an  angel.  .  .  ." 
Such  had  appeared  the  Countess  of  Albany  to  the 
eyes  of  Alfieri,  on  the  day  of  their  first  meeting 
—  seven  years  before  Martinsbourg. 

As  to  the  poet,  in  a  proud  sonnet  of  his  later 
years,  he  thus  pictured  himself : 

"Sublime  mirror  of  sincere  thoughts,  show  me 
in  body  and  soul  such  as  I  am :  hair  now  sparse 
in  front,  and  quite  red ;  tall  of  stature,  and  with 
head  bent  toward  the  earth ;  a  fine  frame  on  two 
slender  legs;  a  white  skin,  blue  eyes,  a  noble 
expression;  a  straight  nose,  beautiful  lips,  and 
perfect  teeth ;  paler  of  countenance  than  a  king 
upon  his  throne ;  sometimes  hard  and  bitter, 
sometimes  pitiful  and  gentle ;  wrathful  ever  and 
never  malicious;    mind  and  heart  perpetually 


174  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


struggling;  most  often  sad,  but  at  times  ex- 
tremely gay ;  sometimes  believing  myself  Achilles, 
and  sometimes  Ther sites.  Man,  are  you  grand  or 
vile?    Die  and  thou  shalt  know." 

I  have  no  luck :  after  copying  this  sonnet  I 
perceive  that  it  is  dedicated  to  Fabre  —  always 
Fabre  —  on  the  occasion  of  the  painting  of  the 
portrait  which  he  started  six  months  before  the 
death  of  Alfieri.  .  .  .  Sainte-Beuve  was  decidedly 
right.  The  wisest  thing  is  to  see  human  affairs 
as  they  are. 

The  two  lovers  remained  two  months  at  Mar- 
tinsbourg.  They  parted  again.  He  returned  to 
Tuscany.  She  went  to  Bologna  for  the  winter; 
then,  having  decided  never  to  return  to  Rome, 
went  to  France.  In  the  following  August  they 
met  again  in  Alsace.  This  time,  Alfieri  brought 
his  papers,  a  part  of  his  books,  and  all  his  cav- 
alry. .  .  . 

This  poet  had  two  passions,  hatred  for  tyrants 
and  love  for  horses.  During  his  last  visit  to 
England  he  had  purchased  fourteen  blooded  horses, 
in  memory  of  the  fourteen  tragedies  which  he  had 
already  composed.  In  his  Memoirs,  he  has  told 
us  the  annoyances  and  the  bother  which  this 
caravan  had  caused  him  all  the  way  from  London 
to  Turin,  the  disembarkation  at  Calais,  the  cross- 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  175 


ing  of  France,  and  the  passage  of  the  Alps  by 
Mont-Cenis.  He  made  a  little  fun  of  his  own 
mania,  but  could  not  conceal  the  pleased  vanity 
which  he  had  at  traveling  with  such  a  train. 
So  he  arrived  at  Martinsbourg  with  these  fourteen 
animals  and  also  did  not  forget  "his  beautiful 
fawn-colored  Fido,  who  had  several  times  carried 
the  burden  of  his  well-beloved  at  Rome." 

This  second  reunion  did  not  last  beyond  the 
month  of  December.  The  countess  was  to  pass 
the  winter  in  Paris.  Alfieri  conducted  her  to 
Strasburg,  then  returned  to  seclude  himself  in 
the  castle  of  Martinsbourg.  There  he  completed 
three  tragedies,  finished  a  poem,  composed  a 
"  tramelogedy "  and  a  dialogue.  One  day,  when 
his  love  had  written  to  him  that  she  had  just  seen 
with  lively  enthusiasm  a  presentation  of  Vol- 
taire's Brutus,  he  suddenly  felt  his  heart  and 
mind  fill  "with  an  emulation  into  which  entered 
at  once  anger  and  disdain,"  and  he  said  to  him- 
self: "And  what  Brutuses!  The  Brutuses  of  a 
Voltaire.  I  will  make  Brutuses  myself.  ...  I 
will  handle  both  of  them.  Time  will  tell  which 
of  us  is  better  fitted  to  claim  such  a  subject  for  a 
tragedy,  I  or  a  Frenchman  who,  born  of  the 
people,  has  for  more  than  seventy  years  signed 
himself:  ' Voltaire,  gentleman  in  ordinary  to  the 
king.'"    And  upon  the  spot,  "with  the  rapidity 


176  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


of  lightning/'  he  conceived  both  his  tragedies  of 
Brutus.  This  effervescence  of  the  imagination 
cost  him  a  terrible  attack  of  gout  in  the  spring. 
Then,  as  his  countess  had  not  been  able  to  come 
and  rejoin  him  at  the  promised  date,  he  fell  into 
great  vexation  of  spirit.  Finally,  in  August,  the 
return  of  the  lady  gave  him  back  joy,  health,  and 
inspiration. 

What  was  their  life  in  this  solitude?  We  may 
imagine  it  from  the  picture  which  Alfieri  has 
drawn  of  a  sojourn  together  several  years  later, 
in  a  villa  near  Florence.  "We  were,"  he  says, 
"both  tirelessly  occupied  with  the  study  of  litera- 
ture; for,  well  versed  in  German  and  English, 
equally  well  taught  in  Italian  and  French,  she 
knew  to  perfection  the  literature  of  these  four 
nations,  and  the  translations  of  the  classics  which 
have  been  made  in  these  four  languages  had  taught 
her  all  that  it  was  needful  for  her  to  know  of  them. 
I  could  therefore  converse  with  her  on  any  subject, 
and  as  heart  and  mind  were  equally  satisfied,  I 
never  felt  happier  than  when  it  was  necessary  for 
us  to  live  alone  by  ourselves,  far  from  all  the  cares 
of  humanity." 

Nevertheless,  they  tore  themselves  from  this 
happy  solitude  and  went  to  pass  a  few  months 
in  Paris,  the  city  which  Alfieri  hated  above  all 
others.    Then  once  more  they  passed  the  summer 


< 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  177 


in  Alsace.  Alfieri  almost  died  there  of  an  attack 
of  dysentery.  At  the  end  of  1787  they  went  back 
to  Paris,  followed  by  all  the  poet's  cavalry.  They 
never  returned  to  Martinsbourg. 

The  chances  of  fate  had  condemned  Alfieri  to 
become  the  guest  of  the  people  whom  he  detested. 
This  hatred  of  France,  and  of  Paris  in  particular, 
can  be  explained  by  many  reasons.  Alfieri  him- 
self has  confessed  the  most  decisive  :  the  first  time 
that  he  came  to  Paris  it  rained  in  torrents  con- 
stantly for  a  fortnight.  It  is  from  such  trifles  that 
the  most  tenacious  prejudices  arise  in  the  case 
of  impressionable  men.  Then  Alfieri  reproached 
France  with  having  corrupted  the  language,  the 
manners,  and  the  spirit  of  his  country ;  his  whole 
intellectual  life  was  a  long  and  grievous  effort  to 
free  himself  from  the  tyranny  of  French  words 
and  thoughts.  He  suffered  from  the  trammels 
which  a  wholly  French  education  gave  to  the  free 
flight  of  his  imagination;  he  suffered  still  more 
from  never  having  been  able  to  break  these  fetters, 
and  from  feeling  that,  in  the  structure  of  his 
tragedies  and  sometimes  even  in  his  style,  he  re- 
mained subject  to  the  discipline  of  French  taste. 
Finally  this  enemy  of  kings,  this  lover  of  liberty, 
hated  the  French  because  it  seemed  to  him  that 
they  parodied,  caricatured,  and  insulted  his  own 


178  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


ideas  and  beliefs ;  he  had  written  furious  tirades 
against  tyrants,  but  in  the  manner  of  the  re- 
publicans of  ancient  Rome,  as  an  aristocrat ;  and 
when  he  saw  the  work  of  the  tiger-apes,  as  he 
called  the  people  of  Paris,  he  had  an  access  of 
disgust.  For  a  long  time  he  had  felt  what  an 
abyss  separated  him  from  the  disciples  of  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau. 

But,  to  understand  and  define  the  "miso- 
gallicism"  of  Alfieri,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
study  to  his  very  depths  this  singular  genius  who 
carried  all  his  passions  "to  a  degree  of  energy 
which  has  perhaps  never  been  concentrated  in  a 
human  heart  since  the  madnesses  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  .  .  ."  (Note  22).  And  this  is  not  the 
place  to  drag  it  in  during  a  pilgrimage  to  Martins- 
bourg. 

I  will  content  myself  with  mentioning  the  loca- 
tion of  the  lodgings  which  Alfieri  took  at  Paris 
when  he  had  left  Alsace:  .  .  I  looked  for  a 
house,  and  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  one, 
very  quiet  and  very  pleasant,  in  a  secluded  situa- 
tion on  the  new  boulevard  of  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Germain,  at  the  end  of  the  Rue  du  Montparnasse. 
I  had  there  a  very  beautiful  view,  excellent  air 
and  the  solitude  of  the  fields.  In  a  word,  it  was 
the  mate  of  the  villa  which  I  had  inhabited  in 
Rome,  in  the  Baths  of  Diocletian."    And  I  beg 


Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of  Albany  179 


persons  who  affect  the  sport  of  ancient  topography 
to  be  kind  enough  to  search  out  the  precise  loca- 
tion of  the  house  to  which  Alfieri  did  the  honor  of 
comparing  it  to  the  Villa  Strozzi. 

As  to  the  fifteen  horses,  Alfieri  gave  almost  half 
of  them  to  his  friend,  who  needed  them  for  her 
convenience. 

At  Wettolsheim,  the  remembrance  of  Alfieri 
and  the  Countess  of  Albany  long  remained  fresh 
and  the  people  of  the  village  spoke  "of  an  illus- 
trious foreign  princess  and  a  great  Italian  lord 
who  was  not  her  husband." 

In  a  charming  pamphlet  in  which  Madame  Lina 
Beck-Bernard  has  collected  some  souvenirs  of 
her  great-grandfather,  Gottfried  Conrad  Pfeffel, 
the  blind  poet  of  Colmar,  I  have  read  a  story 
which  I  wish  to  copy,  for  it  allows  us  to  penetrate 
into  the  salon  of  the  castle  of  Martinsbourg,  and 
paints  to  the  life  the  existence  of  its  guests. 

It  is  "the  daughter  of  a  friend  of  the  Pfeffel 
family"  who  relates  her  memories  of  Alfieri: 
"The  Countess  of  Albany  saw  me  at  the  house  of 
my  cousin  Maltzen :  I  was  then  six  years  old, 
with  curly  hair  and  rosy  cheeks.  The  princess 
declared  that  I  resembled  Cupid,  and  begged 
from  my  mother  permission  to  take  me  to  her 
castle  at  Wettolsheim.  She  made  me  put  on  a 
long  gown  of  pale  pink  silk  and  a  tunic  of  sky- 


180  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


blue  crepe,  to  the  back  of  which  were  attached 
wings  of  gauze  covered  with  peacock  feathers. 
To  complete  my  equipment  as  Cupid  they  gave 
me  a  bow  and  quiver  of  gilded  wood  and  thus 
disguised,  placed  me  in  front  of  a  vast  sofa  of 
yellow  damask,  surmounted  by  a  canopy  of  the 
same  material.  On  this  sofa  was  stretched  Count 
Alfieri,  wrapped  in  furs,  though  it  was  the  height 
of  summer.  The  princess  and  some  of  her  female 
friends  were  seated  about  while  Alfieri  declaimed 
to  them  with  poetic  fury  passages  from  his  trag- 
edies. His  passionate  gestures,  his  burning  words, 
frightened  me  almost  to  death.  .  .  What  a 
'pleasant  picture,  this  Cupid  put  out  of  counte- 
nance by  the  vociferations  of  the  poet  in  the 
midst  of  a  circle  of  women,  amused  at  the 
masquerade  ! 

With  this  vision  we  must  leave  Martinsbourg 
and  return  toward  Colmar. 


XIII 


FERRETTE 

PRECEDED  by  the  perpetual  clanging  of 
a  bell  a  little  train  travels  beside  the  road 
from  Altkirch  to  Ferret  te.  Through 
the  flowery  and  smiling  villages  which  spread 
along  the  edges  of  the  111  the  little  train  makes  its 
way  so  slowly  that  we  have  plenty  of  leisure  to 
examine  the  landscapes  of  the  Sundgau  and  notice 
how  different  they  are  from  the  other  landscapes 
of  Upper  Alsace.  This  wide  and  lazy  valley  of 
beautiful  spreading  meadows,  closed  in  the  distance 
by  wooded  hillsides,  makes  a  strong  contrast  with 
the  narrow  valleys  of  the  Vosges,  whose  steep 
slopes  are  clothed  with  forests.  The  villages 
seem  different.  We  no  longer  see  here  the  great 
Alsatian  farms,  with  their  arched  gates  opening 
on  wide  courts  surrounded  by  buildings  with 
galleries  and  overhanging  roofs.  Isolated  chalets 
announce  the  neighborhood  of  Switzerland. 

When  it  arrives  at  the  bottom  of  the  foothills 
of  the  Jura  the  little  train,  still  ringing  its  bell, 
enters  a  narrower  valley  and  reaches  Ferrette, 
among  its  beech  woods. 

181 


182  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


The  first  houses,  the  " faubourg,"  as  the  people 
of  Ferrette  call  it,  are  hidden  in  a  little  gorge. 
The  village  itself  still  remains  invisible,  clinging,  a 
little  higher  up,  to  the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  whose 
summit  carries  an  old  ruined  castle ;  nothing 
could  be  more  unexpected  than  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  this  little  three-story  town.  Ferrette  has 
only  five  or  six  hundred  inhabitants,  but  pretends 
to  be  a  small  city.  It  boasts  an  old  church  whose 
tower  is  surmounted  by  a  gabled  top  like  a  police 
cap,  say  the  old  Alsatians,  and  this  style  of  cover- 
ing, which  we  are  accustomed  to  see  in  churches 
of  the  Isle  of  France  and  Normandy,  surprises 
us  a  little  in  Alsace,  where  almost  all  the  towers 
terminate  in  a  bulb  or  a  pyramid.  Adjoining  the 
square  of  the  faubourg  in  front  of  the  church  is  a 
large  open  space  before  a  singular  pedimented 
facade,  ornamented  with  strange  allegories.  Here 
dwelt  an  original  character,  whose  name  is  still 
familiar  at  Ferrette :  Philippe  Xavier  Desgrand- 
champs,  who  died  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six 
years.  He  was  a  notary  by  profession,  but  was  an 
amateur  mechanic,  architect,  sculptor,  and  poet. 
He  invented  machines  to  print  designs  in  color 
on  cloth  and  paper,  boring  machines,  planing 
machines,  a  rolling  invalid  chair  for  helpless 
individuals,  a  mechanical  phaeton,  and  wrote 
more  than  six  thousand  German  verses;  I  have 


Ferrette 


183 


not  read  them,  but  a  poet  of  the  Jura,  Napoleon 
Vernier,  while  regretting  that  Desgrandchamps  did 
not  have  sufficient  respect  for  grammar  and 
rhyme,  has  praised  him  for  having  written 

"  Two  volumes  of  verses  of  charming  composition, 
Which  are  the  reflection  of  a  loving  disposition." 

He  was,  in  fact,  full  of  kindness  and  zeal  for  the 
welfare  of  his  compatriots,  and  endeavored,  though 
without  success,  to  introduce  the  industry  of 
clockmaking  into  Ferrette.  He  wished  to  adorn 
his  native  town,  and  ornamented  his  house  with 
his  own  sculptures :  as  a  statuary,  unfortunately, 
he  was  no  better  than  as  a  poet.  But  it  is  amusing 
to  find  at  Ferrette  the  tradition  of  this  worthy, 
beneficent,  and  imaginative  notary.  The  en- 
counter aids  us  in  divining  the  peaceable  and 
industrious  existence  led  in  the  last  century  by 
the  burghers  of  the  Sundgau. 

The  only  street  of  Ferrette,  of  the  "ville"  of 
Ferrette,  forms  a  terrace  overlooking  the  valley; 
it  is  bordered  by  pleasant  homes  of  substantial 
appearances,  among  which  is  a  Hotel  de  Ville  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  This  charming  picture  is 
a  little  spoiled  by  a  courthouse,  quite  new,  and 
entirely  too  German  in  style. 

Thence  a  zigzag  road  mounts  the  hillside  and 
enters  the  bailey  of  the  castle,  whose  four  towers 
are  not  entirely  ruined.    A  little  higher  up  are 


184  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  jagged  remains  of  the  seigniorial  donjon. 
The  ancient  seat  of  the  Counts  of  Ferrette  re- 
mained standing  until  the  Revolution.  Louis 
XIV,  in  1659,  had  given  this  fief  to  Mazarin,  and 
even  today  we  find  in  the  neighboring  forests 
boundary  stones  with  the  arms  of  the  Cardinal. 
The  Valentinois  inherited  the  domain,  then  the 
Grimaldi,  and  the  Prince  of  Monaco  bears,  among 
many  other  titles,  that  of  Count  of  Ferrette.  The 
destruction  of  the  castle  commenced  after  the 
Fourteenth  of  July,   1789.    Bands  which  had 
just  sacked  the  abbey  of  Murbach  arrived  at 
Ferrette;   they  burned  the  bailiff's  house,  and 
made  a  bonfire  of  all  the  old  charters  which  were 
surrendered  to  them  by  the  bailiff's  clerk.    It  is 
said  that  these  brigands  discovered  a  chest  full  of 
money,  and  as  they  were  not  able  to  burst  it  open, 
they  had  to  content  themselves  with  cutting  a 
hole :   through  this  each  plunged  his  hand  and 
made  off  with  what  he  could  grasp  ;  one  attempted 
to  get  a  second  handful,  and  was  seen  by  another 
who,  with  a  single  blow  of  a  hatchet,  slashed  off 
his  hand,  which  remained  in  the  chest.  After 
this  they  pillaged  the  castle.    Time,  here  as 
elsewhere,  has  finished  the  work  of  the  Revolu- 
tionists. 

From  the  castle  platform  the  eye  beholds  one 
of  the  grandest  and  most  moving  spectacles  which 


Ferrette 


185 


the  land  of  Alsace  can  offer,  the  luminous  trough 
of  the  valley  of  the  Rhine  between  the  Vosges 
and  the  Black  Forest.  Nearer  at  hand  undulate 
the  fertile  fields  of  the  Alsatian  Jura.  At  the 
foot  of  the  height  which  is  crowned  by  this 
admirable  belvedere,  beech  woods  conceal  in  their 
thick  shadows  rocks  and  caverns  which  the  popular 
imagination  has  peopled  with  legendary  beings. 
The  grace  and  good  fellowship  of  the  little  town, 
framed  by  a  surprisingly  pretty  landscape,  ruins 
which  evoke  the  tragic  memories  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  forests  whose  every  clearing  is  em- 
bellished by  a  fairy  tale,  all  these  are  comprised 
in  the  charm  of  Ferrette.  Possibly  I  would  have 
experienced  it  less  vividly  if  an  old  and  charming 
Alsatian  had  not  made  me  acquainted  with  it  by  his 
words  and  stories.  Mingling  his  own  memories 
with  those  which  he  had  collected  from  the  mouths 
of  old  inhabitants,  that  living  chronicle  of  Ferrette, 
he  made  me  understand  what  treasures  have  been 
ravished  from  us  by  the  abuse  of  books.  For  it  is 
now  lost,  the  art  of  those  story-tellers  who  per- 
petuated the  traditions  of  each  village.  I  shall 
never  be  able  to  think  of  Ferrette  without  recalling 
the  words  of  the  good  M.  Vogelweid,  those  words 
groping  for  delicate  shades  of  meaning,  to  which 
the  Alsatian  accent  gave  such  a  turn  of  savory 
malice,  without  seeing  again  the  sly  glance  with 


186  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


which  each  word  was  seasoned,  and  I  shall  hear 
this  delicious  old  man  draw  in  three  sentences  the 
portrait  of  one  of  the  former  lords  of  Ferrette,  de- 
scribe the  debut  of  Benoit  Labre  in  hotel-keeping, 
break  down  over  the  virtues  of  the  notary  Des- 
grandchamps,  tell  wonderful  stories  of  smuggling, 
and  relate  how  in  1860,  Jude,  a  Ferrettian,  Jude, 
the  mysterious  assassin  of  President  Poinsot,  gave 
the  slip  to  the  police,  who  had  locked  him  up  in  a 
room  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  .  .  . 

*  Half  an  hour's  walk  from  Ferrette,  in  the  little 
valley  of  the  Luppach,  stood  before  the  Revolution 
a  Franciscan  convent,  founded  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  The  church  was  demolished  in  1854 
and  its  only  remnant  is  a  crypt  which  served  as 
the  monks'  burying  place ;  a  pulpit  and  an  altar 
screen  which  came  from  Luppach  were  placed  in 
the  church  of  Bouxwiller,  the  nearest  village.  Of 
the  ancient  conventual  buildings  there  remain  only 
the  outhouses  and  a  sundial.  A  few  modern 
buildings  have  been  erected  and  contain  a  hospital, 
where  the  Sick  Benefit  Fund  of  Mulhouse  sends 
its  convalescents. 

In  1792,  the  priory  of  Luppach  was  declared  a 
national  possession,  and  the  last  monks  marched 
out,  the  aged  chanting  a  Te  Deum  and  the  young 
crying:  "Vive  la  nation!"    The  monastery  was 


PORTRAIT  OF  ROBESPIERRE 


Ferrette 


187 


turned  into  a  military  hospital ;  but  this  establish- 
ment was  a  long  way  from  the  highroads  and  it 
was  difficult  to  bring  the  wounded  there.  So  the 
house  was  abandoned  to  a  steward  and  a  cook.  In 
1795  these  two  officials  entertained  a  portly, 
short-sighted  and  shrill-voiced  stranger,  accom- 
panied by  a  lady,  as  to  whom  they  could  not 
decide  whether  she  was  his  nurse,  his  niece,  or  his 
wife  :  it  was  the  illustrious  Abbe  Delille,  the  author 
of  The  Georgics  and  of  the  poem  The  Gardens. 

He  had  exiled  himself  from  Paris  after  the  Ninth 
of  Thermidor,  that  is  to  say,  at  a  period  when  he 
might  have  remained  without  danger.  Therefore 
the  date  of  his  departure  gives  the  lie  to  the  legend, 
according  to  which  he  had  incurred  the  resentment 
of  Robespierre  by  lashing  the  oppressors  in  a 
dithyrambic  ode  composed  for  the  Fete  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  Without  having  fully  illuminated 
this  very  dark  period  of  the  life  of  Delille,  Sainte- 
Beuve  has  remarked  that  he  was  not  a  man  who 
deserved  the  disfavor  of  the  Revolutionists,  and 
he  equitably  added :  "'The  canaries  sing  in  their 
cages, '  said  Marie  Joseph  Chenier  de  Delille ; 
but  at  least  this  charming  canary,  who  was  dis- 
covered in  the  palace  which  smoked  with  the 
blood  of  his  masters  and  whom  they  would  have 
liked  to  make  sing,  this  canary,  let  us  say  it  to 
his  honor,  was  sad  and  did  not  sing." 


188  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


It  was  therefore  not  as  a  fugitive  that  Delifle, 
after  having  stopped  some  time  at  Saint  Die,  the 
home  of  his  nurse,  arrived  in  the  Sundgau.  The 
reason  for  his  voluntary  exile  has  been  asked. 
It  has  been  said  that  he  took  fright  when  one  of 
his  friends  jestingly  placed  a  hand  on  his  shoulder 
in  the  name  of  the  law.  It  has  been  pretended  that 
the  Boeotian  manners  of  the  members  of  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  had  disgusted  him 
with  residence  in  Paris.  It  has  been  suspected 
that  he  yielded  to  an  impulse  of  disgust  at  the 
news  that  the  poet  Le  Blanc  had  been  preferred 
to  him  for  national  honors.  It  has  even  been 
said  that  he  wished  to  prepare  for  the  future  by 
this  pretence  of  emigration.  .  .  .  However  it 
may  be,  the  seclusion  of  Luppach  pleased  him, 
and  as  the  hospital  was  empty,  the  steward 
undertook  to  bed  him  and  the  cook  to  board  him. 

He  remained  at  Luppach  for  a  year,  and  com- 
posed there,  it  is  said,  his  poem  The  Man  of  the 
Fields.  The  people  of  Ferret te  remembered  his 
stay  among  them.  Only  a  few  years  ago  there 
was  felled  in  a  woods  near  Luppach  a  hollow 
beech  where  the  poet  used  to  shelter  himself 
from  rainstorms.  Even  today  on  the  facade  of 
one  of  the  buildings  of  the  old  priory,  we  may  read 
this  inscription : 


Sometimes  we  behold  the  enormous  mass 
an  old  castle  - 


Ferrette 


189 


IMMORTAL!  VIRO,  LUPPACA  DELILIO 

According  to  an  improbable  tradition,  Delille 
often  promenaded  in  the  country,  abandoning 
himself  to  inspiration  with  tumultuous  gestures 
which  caused  the  villagers  profound  stupefaction. 
We  can  scarcely  imagine  a  versifier  as  tranquil 
and  spiritual  as  Delille  giving  way  to  such  Byron- 
esque  gesticulations.  The  spectacle  of  nature  did 
not  throw  into  such  a  frenzy  the  descriptive  poets 
of  classic  times. 

But  did  Delille  describe  from  nature?  His 
ingenious  and  cold  pictures  scarcely  give  that 
impression.  His  epithets  are  chosen  for  rhyme 
only.  He  was  sometimes  able  to  feel  and  even 
express  the  charm  of  a  garden.  The  beauties  of 
the  fields  were  evidently  strange  to  this  parlor 
poet.  The  people  of  Sundgau  would  like  to  believe 
that  these  verses, 

"  In  the  dark  bosom  of  this  secluded  wood, 
Behold  these  ruins  of  an  antique  abbey, 
Forgotten  monuments  of  the  monastic  cult," 

were  written  in  sight  of  the  ruins  of  Luppach,  and 
that  these, 

"  Sometimes  we  behold  the  enormous  mass  of  an  old  castle, 
Pompously  bizarre  and  nobly  ruined," 

refer  to  the  castle  of  Ferrette.  It  is  possible,  but 
it  is  well  to  recognize  that  another  monastery  and 


190  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


another  castle  might  have  inspired  the  same  choice 
of  adverbs  and  adjectives.  The  judgment  which 
the  poets  of  1830  made  on  Delille  cannot  be  revised. 

When  the  Institute  was  reorganized,  Delille 
was  invited  to  return  and  take  his  place  among  his 
former  colleagues  of  the  French  Academy.  He 
replied :  "I  found  myself  so  well  satisfied  with 
obscurity  and  poverty  during  the  Reign  of  Terror, 
that  I  still  prefer  them,  if  only  out  of  gratitude; 
I  have  been  informed  that  this  resignation  will 
entail  certain  persecution ;  if  this  should  happen, 
I  would  say,  like  Rousseau :  '  You  persecute  my 
shadow.'"  No  one,  to  tell  the  truth,  dreamed  of 
persecuting  either  Delille  or  his  shadow.  From 
Luppach,  the  abbe  and  his  nurse  went  to  Switzer- 
land and  then  to  England.  No  one  knows  why 
they  came  to  the  Sundgau  nor  why  they  left  it. 

Jean  Henri  Schwindenhammer  was  born  at 
Ferrette  July  14,  1761.  His  father  exercised  the 
functions  of  archigrammateus,  that  is,  secretary  of 
the  notaries.  He  received  an  education  which  was 
wholly  French  and  then  lived  for  a  long  time  in 
Germany.  There  he  became  acquainted  with 
Schiller,  his  elder  by  two  years.  It  is  probable 
that  the  two  young  men  met  at  Mannheim,  when 
Schiller  was  supervising  the  first  representation 
of  The  Robbers  there.    Schwindenhammer  con- 


PORTRAIT  OF  SCHILLER 


Ferrette 


191 


ceived  the  greatest  admiration  for  the  German 
poet. 

After  traveling  extensively  on  the  continent, 
he  returned  to  Paris  and  dreamed  of  writing 
dramas.  His  terrible  Alsatian  name  would  have 
seemed  strange  enough  to  Parisian  ears ;  he  trans- 
lated it  into  French  and  called  himself  La  Martel- 
iere. 

His  first  effort,  in  1787,  was  a  very  free  imitation 
of  Schiller's  Robbers  entitled,  Robert  the  Robber 
Chief.  The  first  version  of  this  drama  was  not 
the  one  which  was  afterwards  acted,  for  the  latter 
contains  the  clearest  reference  to  the  occurrences 
of  the  French  Revolution.  But  the  revolutionary 
feeling  of  Schiller's  piece,  which  had  passed  into 
that  of  La  Marteliere,  is  sufficient  to  explain  why 
the  first  Robert  was  never  produced.  The  same 
reason  decided  its  success  when,  after  the  abolition 
of  the  censorship,  it  was  produced  at  the  Marais 
Theater,  .  March  6,  1792.  This  success  was 
repeated  at  several  provincial  theaters. 

In  reading  this  declamatory  melodrama,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  agree  with  the  judgment  of  Etienne 
and  Martainville,  authors  of  The  History  of  the 
French  Theatre.  "We  cannot  fail  to  regard  the 
production  of  this  drama  as  one  of  the  causes  which 
destroyed  every  sentiment  of  humanity  in  the 
popular  mind ;  in  short,  we  are  persuaded  that  the 


192  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


author  impelled  to  crime  a  crowd  of  misled  men, 
and  that  he  did  not  guide  a  single  one  into  the 
path  of  virtue."  Later,  to  excuse  himself,  La 
Marteliere  said,  "My  piece  was  written  three 
years  before  the  fall  of  the  Bastille.  Neither  it  nor 
I  was  the  cause  of  the  Revolution."  His  piece 
nevertheless  became,  by  force  of  circumstances,  a 
veritable  apology  for  the  revolutionary  tribunal. 
The  whole  public  thus  interpreted  it,  for  after 
Thermidor,  the  Committees  of  Public  Safety  and 
General  Surety  judged  it  prudent  to  suppress  it, 
and  then  received  from  La  Marteliere  the  following 
petition,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of 
Legislation,  the  29th  Brumaire,  Year  III : 

"Citizens, 

"Love  of  the  public  good  has  determined  you  to 
suppress  the  performance  of  a  work  hitherto  pre- 
sented under  the  name  of  Robert  the  Robber  Chief. 

"I  was  not  the  last  to  perceive  that  the  change 
of  times  and  circumstances  has  rendered  this 
measure  just  and  indispensable.  I  would  have 
anticipated  your  orders  by  withdrawing  this  piece 
myself,  if  the  purity  of  my  intentions  had  not  up 
till  now  prevented  me  from  perceiving  the  danger 
it  might  contain.  ! 

"There  remains  to  me  therefore  only  the  merit 
of  submission,  but  if  you  will  recall  the  time  when 
it  was  composed  (in  1787),  I  would  have  perhaps 


Ferrette 


193 


some  right  to  your  indulgence  for  having  dared  to 
write  in  a  period  of  slavery  what  could  be  heard 
without  danger  under  republican  rule. 

"  However  this  may  be,  I  know  no  other  interest 
than  that  of  the  people,  no  other  will  than  that  of 
its  representatives.  I  make  it  therefore  not  only 
a  duty,  but  a  true  pleasure  to  give  up  this  work, 
although  its  revenue  has  been,  since  my  office 
(Note  23)  was  abolished,  my  whole  fortune  and 
that  of  my  family. 

"This  consideration  impels  me  to  beg  of  you 
employment,  either  in  a  national  library,  or  in 
some  other  department  of  public  instruction, 
where  my  knowledge  of  languages  and  study 
of  literature  might  be  of  some  advantage.  I 
await  your  decision  with  confidence,  persuaded 
that  you  will  not  leave  idle  the  father  of  a 
family  who  asks  only  the  opportunity  to  render 
himself  useful. 

"As  to  my  other  works,  I  submit  them  as  well 
as  my  conduct  to  all  the  severity  of  your  censor- 
ship. If  errors  are  found  in  them,  there  will  cer- 
tainly also  be  found  pure  intentions  and  the 
principles  of  a  republican  soul,  which,  even  before 
the  Revolution,  was  the  enemy  of  all  kinds  of 
tyranny. 

"I  refer  in  addition  to  the  testimony  of  the 
Revolutionary  Committee  of  the  Sections  of 


194  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


Fraternity  and  of  Armed  Mankind ,  where  I  have 
dwelt  since  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution. 

"La  Marteliere. 
"Rue  du  Chaume,  No.  21." 

How  was  this  petition  received?  Did  La 
Marteliere  obtain  the  place  which  he  begged? 
All  that  we  know  of  his  life  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary period  is  contained  in  this  document. 
The  petition  of  the  Year  III  was  the  beginning  of 
a  wise  conversion  which  was  to  carry  him  far,  very 
far,  from  the  Revolution.  After  being  appointed  in 
1803  to  a  position  in  the  Administration  des  droits 
reunis,  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  in  composing 
honest  comedies,  virtuous  melodramas  and  lively 
romances.  In  1816,  he  was  conspicuous  for  his 
royalist  zeal ;  certain  biographers  have  even 
affirmed  that,  when  he  died  in  1830,  he  was  M.  de 
La  Marteliere.  .  .  . 

His  destiny  would  resemble  that  of  many  other 
literary  men  who  appeared  during  the  Revolution, 
accommodated  themselves  to  the  Empire,  and  were 
enthusiastic  for  the  Restoration,  and  would  not 
merit  much  attention,  if  La  Marteliere  had  not 
played  a  part  in  the  literary  history  of  his  time, 
by  making  Schiller  known  to  France.  Of  Robert 
the  Robber  Chief  George  Sand  has  said  all  there  is 
to  be  said  :  "This  is  only  a  miserable  imitation  of 


Ferrette 


195 


Schiller's  Robbers  and  yet  this  imitation  has  interest 
and  importance,  for  it  enfolds  a  whole  philosophy. 
It  is  the  Jacobin  system  in  essence  :  Robert  is  an 
ideal  mountain  chieftain,  and  I  beg  my  readers 
to  peruse  it  again  as  a  very  curious  monument  of 
the  spirit  of  the  times. "  La  Marteliere  never- 
theless neglected  to  use  the  name  of  Schiller  in  this 
connection;  "A  drama  imitated  from  the 
German,"  was  the  only  phrase  which  followed  the 
title  of  his  work.  When,  to  the  list  of  foreigners 
to  whom  the  Legislative  Assembly  voted  the  title 
of  French  citizenship,  some  one  added  the  name 
of  Schiller,  " German  publicist,"  which,  trans- 
formed by  a  clerk  into  Giller,  became  Gilleers  in 
the  Moniteur  and  simply  Gille  in  the  Bulletin  des 
Lois,  was  La  Marteliere  the  inspirer  of  this 
homage?  We  have  no  ground  for  affirming  it. 
But  a  few  years  later  he  published,  under  the 
title  Plays  of  Schiller,  sl  translation  of  Love  and 
Intrigue,  The  Conspiracy  of  Fiesco  and  Don 
Carlos.  In  the  preface  which  he  prefixed  to  this 
collection,  he  claimed  that  the  French  should  take 
great  interest  in  German  plays,  and  especially  in 
the  dramas  of  Goethe  and  Schiller,  which  he  set 
above  those  of  Shakespeare.  In  1801  he  produced 
a  drama  entitled  Love  and  Intrigue,  in  which  he 
deviated  much  less  from  the  text  of  Schiller  than 
he  had  done  in  imitating  The  Robbers.    He  thus 


196  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


anticipated  Madame  de  Stael,  and  thanks  to  him 
French  imagination  was  for  the  first  time  intro- 
duced to  the  accomplishments  of  German 
Romanticism. 

Let  us  observe  that  this  introduction  was  the 
work  of  an  Alsatian.  With  La  Marteliere  begins 
the  long  series  of  writers  born  between  the  Rhine 
and  the  Vosges  who  have  endeavored  during  the 
last  century  to  impart  to  Frenchmen  German  ideas 
and  literature.  Knowing  both  languages,  and 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  both  people,  Alsace  was 
the  natural  clearing  house  for  these  intellectual 
exchanges.  It  never  faltered  in  this  task,  not 
even  after  the  annexation,  for  it  was  still  by  Alsa- 
tians, during  the  last  forty  years,  that  we  were 
instructed  in  German  art  and  thought :  do  I  need 
to  recall  the  excellent  translations  of  Nietzsche  by 
M.  Henri  Albert,  the  fine  essays  of  M.  Lichten- 
berger  on  Wagner  and  Nietzsche  ? 

The  Ferrettian  La  Marteliere  began  this  enter- 
prise, from  which  both  nations  draw  an  equal 
profit.  This  is  why  I  have  enlarged  upon  his 
life  and  work  (Note  24). 


XIV 

HAGUENAU  AND  NEUBOURG 

ALSACE  was  the  most  favored  battle 
field  for  the  armies  of  Europe,  and  the 
history  of  each  of  its  towns  is  but  a 
sequence  of  sieges,  pillages,  and  conflagrations. 
Of  all  the  little  Alsatian  cities,  none,  perhaps, 
has  suffered  the  rigors  of  war  as  often  or  as  cruelly 
as  Haguenau.  An  imperial  city,  a  free  city,  a 
French  city,  Haguenau  has  been  taken,  burned, 
dismantled,  then  rebuilt  and  refortified  only  to 
undergo  new  assaults  and  new  disasters.  Not 
until  the  eighteenth  century  did  it  commence  to 
know  peace  and  security.  To  know  its  history, 
we  have  only  to  walk  through  its  streets  and  study 
its  architecture.  Few  of  the  existing  buildings 
antedate  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  A  few  remnants 
of  the  old  ramparts,  some  towers,  a  great  arch  of 
stone  beneath  which  passes  the  Moder,  two 
churches,  two  or  three  Renaissance  houses,  such 
are  the  only  remains  of  the  ancient  city.  Every- 
where we  may  see  curving  balconies,  smiling 
masks,  delicate  ironwork.    In  the  great  square, 

197 


198  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  hospital  displays  its  elegant  facade.  Else- 
where, modest  houses  boast  of  doorways  of 
deliciously  fanciful  designs,  or  ovals  of  sculptured 
stone  frame  the  dormer  windows  of  an  immense 
Alsatian  roof. 

Wissembourg  entranced  me,  one  day,  by  its 
charming  eighteenth-century  mansions.  Hague- 
nau  cannot  offer  as  complete  a  picture  nor  as 
touching  an  appearance.  It  is  a  rich  city,  for  it 
owns  the  forest  which  extends  up  to  its  very  gates, 
and  which  is  the  largest  in  Alsace ;  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  therefore,  modern  buildings  have 
been  erected  here  and  there,  which  have  somewhat 
changed  the  old-fashioned  look  of  the  town.  In 
spite  of  this,  the  stamp  of  French  art  is  here  so 
profound  that  we  have  for  an  instant  the  illusion 
of  believing  ourselves  "at  home."  The  reality, 
however,  quickly  convinces  us  that  we  are 
" abroad."  This  reality  is  conveyed  by  the 
signs,  the  posters,  the  uniforms,  by  the  colossal 
building  of  a  museum,  as  formidable  as  a  citadel 
or  a  brewery,  by  a  palace  of  justice,  entirely  new, 
where  an  architect  has  employed  himself  in  "  re- 
producing the  eighteenth  century,"  but  what  an 
eighteenth  century!  A  sort  of  exasperated  Ba- 
roque architecture  decorated  in  one  place  with 
great  garlands  of  terrifying  clumsiness,  in  another 
with  vases  like  old  Bavarian  helmets  and  enlivened 


Haguenau  and  Neubourg  199 


by  indiscreet  polychromatic  decoration,  for  the 
window  frames,  the  gutters,  and  even  the  water- 
spouts are  daubed  with  blue  and  white.  It  is 
hard  to  say  whether  the  museum  or  the  palace  of 
justice  is  more  offensive  in  this  little  town,  so 
nicely  laid  out  along  its  canals  and  around  its 
squares  planted  with  old  trees,  and  to  which  its 
waters,  its  verdure,  and  its  silence  give  a  charm 
which  is  almost  Flemish. 

Saint  George  of  Haguenau  was  a  beautiful 
church  composed  of  a  Romanesque  nave  and  a 
Gothic  choir.  But  ferocious  restorations  and 
especially  terrible  overpaintings  have  frightfully 
disfigured  it.  The  walls  are  covered  with  frescos, 
the  vaults  beautified  with  a  " floral  decoration," 
the  capitals  colored  alternately  red  and  blue. 
We  possess  in  France  some  old  edifices  on  which 
this  barbarous  treatment  has  been  inflicted ; 
happily,  they  are  rare.  But  the  mania  of  repaint- 
ing the  churches  has  sprung  up  all  over  Alsace 
since  the  annexation.  Saint  Peter  the  Younger 
of  Strasburg  is  the  most  ridiculous  specimen  of 
this  disastrous  method.  A  hundred  precious 
monuments  have  fallen  victim  to  the  same  fate. 
The  charming  Gothic  church  of  Walbourg  (not  far 
from  Haguenau)  has  been  decorated  "in  the 
style  of  the  fifteenth  century,"  that  is,  a  style 
borrowed  from  Books  of  Hours,  for  illuminations  of 


200  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


manuscripts  have  been  conscientiously  enlarged 
to  adorn  the  vaults  of  churches!  Fortunately, 
dampness  will  soon  destroy  this  archeological 
carnival.  In  fifty  years,  nothing  will  be  left 
of  all  these  daubs. 

Meanwhile,  the  Alsatians  are  shocked  by  it, 
and  make  it  the  theme  of  incessant  jibes.  The 
Germans  are  a  little  disconcerted  by  these,  for, 
from  the  Rhine  to  the  Vistula,  they  have  painted 
all  their  churches,  and  hold  as  an  indisputable 
axiom  that  the  taste  for  crude  color  is  one  of  the 
signs  of  the  energy  and  youthfulness  of  the  Ger- 
manic race.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  exhorta- 
tions of  some  Pangermanic  esthetes,  they  have 
not  yet  decided  to  paint  the  portals  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Strasburg. 

On  one  of  the  outskirts  of  Haguenau,  near  the 
Wissembourg  Gate,  rises  the  Gothic  church  of 
Saint  Nicholas.  It  contains  marvelous  sculp- 
tures in  wood,  the  most  perfect  in  Alsace,  except 
possibly  those  of  the  ancient  abbey  church  of 
Marmoutier.  They  decorate  the  organ  chest,  the 
pulpit,  the  panelings,  and  the  choir  stalls.  The 
pulpit,  all  whose  lines  curve  with  elegant  delicacy, 
is  crowned  with  statuettes  of  children  of  inimitable 
grace  and  truth.  As  to  the  choir,  its  carvings  are 
of  two  styles :  those  of  the  entrance,  with  their 
rectangular  frames,   their  garlands,   and  their 


CHOIR  OF  SAINT  NICHOLAS,  HAGUENAU 


Haguenau  and  Neubourg  201 


medallions,  are  pure  Louis  XVI,  while  the  others 
which  embellish  the  choir  proper  show  the  fancy 
and  richness  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV.  The 
misereres  are  ornamented,  sometimes  with  rock- 
work,  sometimes  with  angels'  heads.  Four  stalls 
are  surmounted  by  canopies  formed  of  palms  and 
sustained  by  caryatides.  The  whole  betrays  the 
hand  of  confident  and  skillful  artists;  but  we 
may  pick  out  especially  two  exquisite  caryatides  of 
angels  in  prayer  which,  because  of  their  touching 
accent  of  truth  and  perfect  execution,  far  surpass 
the  other  sculptures. 

While  admiring  this  charming  work  we  notice 
that  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  made  for  the 
place  it  now  occupies :  the  organ  chest  has  been 
cut  down ;  the  pulpit  does  not  fit  very  well  to  the 
pillar  against  which  it  is  placed.  We  perceive  in 
the  choir  that  certain  parts  have  been  cut  and 
others  patched,  and  that  several  panels  of  the 
original  decoration  are  lacking.  We  suspect  that 
relics  of  some  other  church,  now  destroyed,  have 
been  brought  to  adorn  Saint  Nicholas.  This  is 
what  we  learn  on  asking. 

At  Neubourg,  a  couple  of  leagues  from  Hague- 
nau, there  was  formerly  a  Cistercian  monastery, 
which  was  almost  entirely  demolished  in  1793. 
Later,  the  Black  Band  completely  destroyed  its 
ruins.    But,  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 


202  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


century,  a  curate  of  the  church  of  Saint  Nicholas 
had  the  pious  thought  of  saving  what  remained 
of  the  decorations  of  the  church  and  had  these 
carvings  brought  to  Haguenau.  He  placed  them 
in  his  church  as  best  he  could,  and  piled  up  in  a 
loft  the  fragments  which  he  could  not  use.  Several 
of  these  panels,  in  Louis  XVI  style,  were  later 
utilized  in  the  choir  of  Marmoutier ;  other  frag- 
ments may  now  be  found  in  the  museum  of  Hague- 
nau. 

We  must  then  go  to  the  museum,  without  allow- 
ing ourselves  to  be  intimidated  by  the  formidable 
and  Germanic  aspect  of  the  monument.  In  this, 
vast  and  well-lighted  halls  contain  a  few  fine 
pieces  of  furniture  and  some  historical  souvenirs ; 
others,  not  less  well  lighted,  are  still  absolutely 
empty.  .  .  .  The  museum  of  Haguenau  is  a 
museum  in  expectation.  It  is  here  that  hospital- 
ity has  been  given  to  the  remnants  of  the  treas- 
ures of  Neubourg :  carved  panels,  a  wooden 
bas-relief  in  imitation  of  the  Last  Supper  of  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  two  statues  of  children,  a  mag- 
nificent sacristy  chest,  and  so  forth. 

Finally,  before  the  church  of  Saint  George,  in 
the  midst  of  a  little  garden,  stands  a  pretty 
fountain,  surmounted  by  a  group  of  children.  It 
formerly  ornamented  one  of  the  courts  of  Neu- 
bourg. 


Haguenau  and  Neubourg  203 


At  the  sight  of  all  these  fragments,  I  experienced 
a  desire  to  know  if  there  did  not  exist  some  other 
remnant  of  the  monastery  for  which  these  precious 
carvings  were  created.  I  was  assured  that  every- 
thing had  been  laid  level  with  the  earth.  Never- 
theless I  followed  the  valley  of  the  Moder  to 
Neubourg. 

In  the  midst  of  meadows,  on  the  bank  of  the 
little  river,  an  old  and  solid  wall  still  encloses  three 
sides  of  the  abbey  close.  A  high  and  noble  portal 
in  Vosgian  sandstone  adorns  the  entrance  to  the 
domain.  An  old  stable  and  the  porter's  lodge  are 
still  standing,  and  a  glance  at  the  little  door, 
surrounded  by  elegant  moldings,  leaves  no  doubt 
that  this  structure  was  contemporary  with  the 
wood  carvings  at  Saint  Nicholas.  There  is 
nothing  more.  In  the  place  where  stood  the 
cloister  and  the  church  extend  pastures  and 
gardens.  Nothing  remains  of  the  old  monastery, 
founded  in  1128,  by  Count  Renaud  de  Lutzel- 
bourg.  The  individual  who  purchased  Neubourg 
when  it  was  sold  as  national  property  completed 
the  work  of  the  Revolutionary  pillagers.  The 
peasants  of  the  neighborhood  helped  themselves 
to  the  stones  to  build  themselves  houses.  The 
library  and  the  picture  gallery  fell  into  unknown 
hands.  Until  1846  it  is  said  that  one  could  still 
see,  in  the  midst  of  the  fields,  a  small  Gothic 


• 


204  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


chapel,  surmounted  by  a  pyramidal  tower  of 
stone,  and  flanked  with  belfries;  this  was  then 
savagely  destroyed.  Haguenau  possesses  all  that 
the  house-breakers  have  spared. 

These  monks  of  Neubourg,  who  ornamented 
their  church  with  such  beautiful  carvings  and 
erected  in  the  midst  of  the  cloister  such  a  pleasing 
fountain,  were  unfaithful  to  the  spirit  of  Citeaux, 
and  the  modern  vandals  have  only  avenged  Saint 
Bernard.  They  avenged  him  too  well,  and  when 
we  admire  the  sculptures  treasured  in  the  church 
of  Saint  Nicholas,  we  cannot  contemplate  this 
spot,  now  deserted,  without  sadness. 

The  site  where  the  pupils  of  Saint  Bernard 
prayed,  and  where  later  some  less  austere  monks 
tasted  in  an  elegant  retreat  the  pleasures  of  the 
hunt  or  of  study,  is  imbued  with  a  melancholy 
which  harmonizes  with  the  memory  of  the  devas- 
tation. .  .  .  The  horizon  across  the  Moder  is 
abruptly  closed  by  the  edge  of  the  woods  of  Hague- 
nau. On  the  autumn  morning  when  curiosity 
led  me  to  Neubourg  wisps  of  fog  floated  across 
the  meadows  and  above  the  yellowing  branches 
of  the  holy  forest.  A  burst  of  sunlight  caused 
them  to  disappear;  but  the  landscape,  even  in 
full  sunshine,  remained  grave  and  unsmiling. 


XV 


SOULTZ-SOUS-FORETS.  —  THE  LETTERS 
OF  THE  BARONESS  DE  BODE 

SOULTZ-SOUS-FORETS  is  a  hamlet  of 
Lower  Alsace,  halfway  between  Haguenau 
and  Wissembourg,  on  the  verge  of  the 
forest  of  Haguenau.  Before  the  Revolution, 
Soultz  still  remained  under  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Archbishop  Elector  of  Cologne.  It  was  one  of 
those  innumerable  principalities  over  which  foreign 
princes  had  retained  their  rights,  although  Alsace 
had  been  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  France  for  a 
century  and  a  half.  This  strange  situation  cu- 
riously complicated  the  position  of  goods  and 
persons  between  the  Vosges  and  the  Rhine,  and 
the  map  of  Alsace  in  1789,  with  its  old  feudal 
divisions,  presents  the  appearance  of  an  extraor- 
dinary mosaic. 

Soultz,  until  1720,  belonged  to  the  Barony  of 
Fleckenstein  and  then  passed  to  the  family  of 
Rohan-Soubise.  The  death  of  the  last  of  this  race 
left  the  fief  vacant.  In  1788  the  Archbishop  of 
Cologne  conferred  it  on  Baron  de  Bode. 

205 


206  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


I  am  going  to  summarize  the  history  of  this  last 
overlord  of  Soultz-sous-Forets  from  a  lively  account 
published  by  M.  F.  Dollinger  in  the  Revue  alsa- 
cienne  illustree  (Note  25).  He  has  made  use  of 
the  letters  of  Baroness  de  Bode,  who  related  with 
marvelous  truth  to  nature  the  events  of  her 
dramatic  destiny.  At  the  same  time,  his  deep 
knowledge  of  Alsatian  matters  has  enabled  M. 
Dollinger  to  indicate  clearly,  but  not  insistently, 
what  these  documents  can  teach  us  of  the  history 
of  Alsace  before  and  during  the  Revolution. 

Baron  Auguste  de  Bode  was  a  Hessian,  born  at 
Fulda.  Without  losing  his  nationality,  he  entered 
the  service  of  France.  He  was  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  Royal  Deux-Ponts  Regiment,  in 
garrison  at  Lille,  when  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  young  Englishwoman,  who  was  traveling  on 
the  continent  with  some  friends,  Alary  Kinnersley, 
the  daughter  of  a  gentleman  of  Staffordshire. 
He  married  her.  The  resources  of  the  household 
were  slender,  and  each  vear  Madame  de  Bode 
gave  her  husband  a  child.  It  became  necessary 
for  them  to  find  some  way  of  increasing  their 
means.  The  baron  exchanged  and  became  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel of  the  Nassau  Infantry  Regiment, 
which  belonged  to  the  Prince  of  Nassau-Saar- 
bruck,  but  which  nevertheless  was  also  a  part  of 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  207 


♦ 


the  French  king's  army.  He  took  up  his  quarters 
at  Sarrelouis,  and  held  in  the  court  of  his  sovereign, 
the  Prince  of  Nassau,  the  office  of  "  Grand  Marshal 
of  Travel,"  while  his  wife  became  a  lady  of  honor 
of  the  princess.  But  the  number  of  his  children 
continually  increased  and  positions  at  the  court 
of  Nassau  were  mostly  honorific.  M.  de  Bode 
decided  to  sell  his  commission  as  lieutenant-colonel 
and  hunt  for  a  lordship  on  the  revenues  of  which 
he  might  live. 

The  fief  of  Soultz  was  vacant.  But  the  lieu- 
tenant-colonel had  received  for  his  commission 
only  125,000  livres.  The  Archbishop  Elector 
of  Cologne  demanded  200,000  as  the  price  of  in- 
vestiture. A  brother-in-law  of  the  Baroness  de 
Bode  offered  to  advance  the  missing  75,000  livres. 
The  " Grand  Marshal  of  Travel"  went  to  Bonn; 
he  was  received  in  the  most  friendly  fashion  by 
Maximilian,  the  Archbishop  Elector  of  Cologne, 
the  youngest  of  the  sons  of  Maria  Theresa,  who 
was  celebrated  for  his  extraordinary  appetite. 
By  reason  of  having  too  well  pleased  his  suzerain, 
he  returned  home  with  a  bilious  fever,  but  feudally 
invested  with  the  lordship  of  Soultz.  This  feudal 
investiture  was  not  the  only  requirement.  The 
King  of  France  required  that  the  vassals  of  princes 
"in  possession"  in  Alsace  should  render  homage 
to  him  and  acquire  French  nationality.  "This 


208  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

pleasantry,"  wrote  the  Baroness,  "cost  Auguste 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  livres."  Finally,  in 
December,  1788,  the  new  lord  presented  himself 
at  the  frontier  of  his  lordship. 

He  was  received  with  great  pomp ;  salvos  of 
artillery,  the  ringing  of  bells,  speech-making  by 
notables.  The  citizens  assumed  blue  and  red 
military  uniforms ;  the  Jews  were  dressed  as  green 
and  scarlet  dragoons.  In  the  great  hall  of  the 
H6tel  de  Ville  four  damask  armchairs  were  placed 
for  the  President  of  the  Sovereign  Council  of 
Alsace,  Commissioner  of  the  King  of  France,  for 
the  new  lord  and  his  wife,  and  for  the  Bailiff  of 
Soultz,  M.  Rothjacob.  On  a  table  covered  by  a 
napkin,  a  bit  of  turf  had  been  placed  on  a  silver 
dish.  After  a  fine  discourse  the  Commissioner  of 
the  King  presented  this  symbolic  sod  to  the  Baron 
de  Bode,  thus  notifying  him  that  he  might  take 
possession  of  his  domain.  Young  girls  offered 
bouquets.  A  young  Jewess  presented  an  illu- 
minated parchment,  containing  a  prayer  in  German 
and  Hebrew.  They  went  to  church.  The  priest 
celebrated  mass.  The  Lutheran  pastor  read  a 
sermon.  The  four  hundred  heads  of  families  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance.  It  was  the  first  act  of  a 
comic  opera.  But  it  was  1788,  and  the  sequence 
of  events  soon  made  evident  the  irony  of  this 
pleasing  prologue. 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  209 


For  the  moment  the  Baron  and  the  Baroness 
de  Bode  abandoned  themselves  to  the  entertain- 
ment afforded  by  this  feudal  idyl.  Nevertheless 
they  were  very  worthy  people.  The  husband  was 
a  brave  soldier  and  an  excellent  father  to  his 
family.  His  heart  was  better  than  his  intelligence. 
But  his  wife  was  able  to  direct  and  administer 
the  affairs  of  the  domain.  She  was  a  brainy, 
practical,  reasonable  woman,  with  a  lively  and 
hasty  spirit.  She  had  most  of  the  illusions  of  her 
caste  and  her  surroundings,  partly  out  of  vanity, 
but  especially  because  the  new  regime  was  to 
ruin  her  and  hers.  What  could  she  understand  of 
the  French  Revolution,  an  Englishwoman,  married 
to  a  German,  transplanted  to  Alsace,  subject  of 
King  Louis  XIV,  and  vassal  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Cologne  ? 

Her  joy  effervesces  in  one  of  the  first  letters 
which  she  wrote  from  Soultz.  (The  letters  of 
Baroness  de  Bode  were  addressed  to  her  relatives 
in  England.)  "  Soultz  is  our  capital,  besides 
which  we  possess  six  villages.  We  are  sole  masters 
and  have  the  right  of  high  and  low  justice.  We 
determine  the  whole  civil  law.  We  have  at  least 
a  dozen  positions  to  fill,  and  I  must  tell  you  that 
we  have  been  bombarded  with  solicitations  since 
the  investiture.  I  hope  that  that  will  soon  come 
to  an  end,  because  we  have  already  filled  almost 


210  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


all  the  offices.  The  form  of  the  government  is  so 
different  from  that  of  the  English  government,  that 
I  can  hardly  give  you  an  idea  of  it.  The  highest 
post  is  that  of  Bailiff.  It  is  a  very  important 
position,  and  although  it  may  not  be  held  by  a 
person  of  quality,  the  holder  nevertheless  has 
horses  and  a  carriage  and  a  table  as  well  served  as 
that  of  an  English  lord.  The  second  place  is  that 
of  the  Registrar,  who  is  chief  of  the  bureau  of 
archives  and  who  also  is  well  served.  Then  come 
the  intendant,  the  master  of  the  household,  the 
treasurer,  the  ushers,  sergeants,  jailers,  guardians, 
and  so  forth,  all  chosen  by  ourselves  and  in  our 
pay. 

"You  know  that  Soultz  has  a  pleasing  and  agree- 
able situation,  and  that  it  is  a  charming  and  rich 
corner  of  the  earth.  There  are  a  cathedral,  a 
Protestant  church,  and  a  synagogue.  We  have 
here  thirty-four  Jewish  families  who  are  required 
to  pay  dues  for  permission  to  live  here.  The 
tithes,  large  and  small,  belong  to  us  by  right. 
Our  subjects  are  required  to  furnish  us  such  a 
quantity  of  hens,  chickens,  and  capons,  of  grain, 
hay,  and  potatoes,  that  we  shall  never  be  able  to 
consume  them.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  you  all  the 
rights  which  we  have.  We  do  not  know  them  our- 
selves. Every  woman  is  obliged  to  spin  for  me  two 
pounds  of  tow  or  hemp  each  year,  and  every  sub- 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  211 


ject,  male  or  female,  is  obliged  to  work  for  us  ten 
days  in  the  year.  Every  innkeeper  is  required  to 
pay  us  a  certain  sum  for  a  license  to  hang  out  a 
sign,  and  every  measure  of  wine  which  enters  our 
territory  pays  us  an  excise.  All  the  fines  come  to 
us  by  right.  We  possess  also  the  right  of  aubaine, 
and  quantities  of  fine  properties,  both  ploughland 
and  pasturage.  The  salt  spring  is  an  allodium; 
it  previously  belonged  to  us.  In  the  fief  we  own  a 
coal  mine  which  we  expect  to  work,  and  which 
promises  very  large  profits,  and  also  a  mine  of  pitch 
with  a  vein  four  feet  thick.  It  is  a  land  flowing 
with  grain,  oil  and  wine.  ...  If  God  has  sent 
us  many  children,  he  has  also  given  us  in  abun- 
dance the  wherewithal  to  provide  for  them." 

Behold  in  a  few  lines  an  epitome  of  the  feudal 
regime,  and  the  picture  of  a  little  Alsatian  town 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  good 
historic  document  which  is  also  a  good  moral 
document,  for  in  this  letter  we  see  mingled  in- 
genuous contentment  at  reigning  over  a  people 
composed  of  male  and  female  subjects,  and  the 
satisfaction,  so  natural  to  a  good  housekeeper,  of 
being  sure  of  her  provisions. 

Then  they  worked  the  salt  well;  they  worked 
the  mine ;  they  filled  the  barns  with  tithes  and 
they  moved  into  a  fine  new  house.  The  old 
chateau  of  the  barons  of  Fleckenstein  was  ruinous. 


212  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


They  built  a  spacious  family  residence  (the  lord 
had  already  eight  children),  a  fine  two-story 
building,  which  the  Baroness  de  Bode  caused  to  be 
painted  and  adorned  with  guillotine  windows  in 
the  English  fashion ;  the  window  fittings  were 
brought  from  London.  This  house  still  exists, 
but  all  the  windows  are  now  hung  on  hinges,  like 
honest  Alsatian  windows.  It  is  probable  that 
they  were  changed  in  the  nineteenth  century  by  a 
proprietor  not  given  to  Anglomania. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Bastille,  there  were  some 
troubles  in  Lower  Alsace.  A  riot  broke  out  at 
Soultz ;  a  few  peasants  were  hanged.  Several 
days  later  the  news  came  that  on  the  night  of 
August  4  the  nobility  had  surrendered  its  privi- 
leges. We  may  guess  how  this  news  was  received 
by  Baroness  de  Bode,  who  had  recently  detailed 
with  so  much  joy  all  the  feudal  rights  of  which  she 
had  taken  possession.  At  the  same  time  she  began 
to  perceive  that  the  hangings  had  not  improved 
matters:  "You  cannot  imagine/'  she  wrote, 
"the  insolence  of  the  rabble.''  The  happy  success 
of  her  industrial  enterprises  distracted  her  a  little 
among  her  apprehensions :  "All  in  all,  I  find  this 
bustling  commercial  life  very  amusing."  The 
mine  and  the  salt  spring  prospered ;  in  fact,  they 
did  not  cease  to  prosper  during  the  whole  Revo- 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  213 


lution ;  there,  as  elsewhere,  the  workmen  did  not 
seem  to  share  the  hateful  and  savage  passions  of 
the  peasants.  But  events  at  Paris  and  the  votes 
of  the  Constituent  Assembly  doubled  each  day  the 
alarms  of  the  Lord  of  Soultz. 

The  letters  of  Madame  de  Bode  well  show  us 
the  state  of  mind  of  these  nobles,  isolated  in  their 
principality,  deceived  by  all  the  promises  which 
were  showered  on  them  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Rhine.  "We  Alsatians  still  have  hope,  for  there 
are  so  many  foreign  princes  involved  in  our  losses, 
that  it  is  not  possible  that  they  will  allow  us  to 
lose  all  our  feudal  rights.  .  .  .  And  if  the  nation 
does  not  indemnify  us,  the  Elector  of  Cologne 
must,  for  he  has  taken  our  money.  .  .  .  We  are 
all  victims  of  the  usurpation  of  power  by  a  handful 
of  tyrants  who  have  seized  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. France,  which  was  the  happiest  of 
countries,  has  become  a  den  of  bandits.  .  .  . 
What  we  own  is  worth  certainly  500,000  livres, 
[do  not  forget  that  they  had  paid  200,000  for  it 
two  years  before]  and  yet  money  is  so  scarce  and 
the  credit  of  France  is  so  poor  that  it  is  impossible 
to  raise  money  even  on  good  security.  .  .  ." 
War  seems  inevitable  to  Madame  de  Bode  and 
what  comforted  her  a  little  was  that  the  issue  of 
this  war  did  not  appear  doubtful  to  her :  the 
French  army  was  undisciplined,  and  from  every 


214  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


quarter  came  announcements  that  regiments  had 
risen  against  their  officers.  One  day  in  the  midst 
of  all  these  anguishes  and  all  these  hopes,  she  gave 
vent  to  this  cry  of  pride  of  race:  " Think  what 
respect  they  can  have  for  their  new  bishops ! 
The  one  whom  they  have  elected  to  the  episcopal 
chair  of  Strasburg  in  place  of  Cardinal  de  Rohan 
is  one  of  our  former  vassals,  whose  father,  before 
the  Revolution,  would  have  been  bound  to  load 
our  manure  on  his  cart  and  drag  it  into  our  field, 
if  it  had  pleased  us  to  order  him  to  do  so." 

After  taking  refuge  with  the  Margrave  of  Baden, 
she  repeated  to  her  correspondents  the  common 
opinion  of  those  who  surrounded  her:  " Three 
hundred  thousand  trained  men  are  under  arms 
ready  to  march  to  our  assistance.  The  French 
army  is  disorganized.  .  .  .  The  national  guard  is 
only  a  handful  of  peasants  who  will  scamper  away 
at  the  first  cannon  shot.  .  .  .  The  general  opinion 
is  that  Alsace  and  Lorraine  will  again  become 
German.  You  can  easily  believe  that  we  desire 
it."  Her  husband,  who  had  joined  her  there,  was 
obliged  to  return  to  his  capital ;  the  law  of  March 
23,  1792,  against  the  6migr6s  had  just  been  pro- 
mulgated. A  month  later  war  was  declared. 
"I  have  confidence,"  said  Madame  de  Bode, 
"that  everything  will  be  in  order  and  quiet  before 
the  end  of  the  year." 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  215 


She  was  then  at  Carlsruhe,  and  there  she  saw 
the  army  of  the  Allies.  She  described  to  her 
correspondents  the  terrible  appearance  of  the 
Pandours,  the  civil  manners  of  the  Hungarians, 
the  pleasant  ways  of  the  Austrians,  and  her  con- 
fidence increased  from  day  to  day.  In  spite  of 
her  optimism,  however,  she  still  retained  some 
foresight,  and  she  understood  how  dangerous  was 
the  attitude  of  the  French  emigres:  " Nothing  is 
more  foolish  than  their  conduct,  wherever  they 
are.  All  the  terrible  lessons  which  this  unhappy 
Revolution  has  given  them  cannot  cure  their 
natural  frivolity.  .  .  And,  a  little  later,  after 
Jemmapes  and  Valmy  had  taken  away  her 
illusions  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  Allied  armies, 
she  wrote  again :  "The  French  nobles  are  greatly 
to  be  pitied.  It  must  be  said,  it  is  true,  that  they 
have  everywhere  acted  so  inconsiderately  that  they 
have  made  everyone  lose  any  feeling  of  pity  for 
them.  A  large  number,  a  very  large  number, 
have  unluckily  and  needlessly  entered  the  armies 
which  are  fighting  their  country,  and  in  this  way 
have  rendered  impossible  any  reconciliation  with 
the  nation.  Happy  are  those  at  present  who 
have  prudently  observed  neutrality.  We  now 
feel  the  good  effects  of  the  prudence  and  modera- 
tion of  Auguste.  I  would  only  like  to  be  safe 
and  sound  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine,  for  I 


( 

216  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

believe  that  at  this  moment  France  is  the  safest 
refuge,  and  that  no  one  is  safe  anywhere  else.  .  . 

The  prudent  and  the  moderate  had  to  pay  for  the 
faults  of  the  hotheads.  Baron  de  Bode  barely 
escaped  death  at  the  hands  of  a  band  of  furious 
rioters  who  invaded  his  home  at  Soultz.  So, 
when  his  wife  decided  to  return  to  France,  he 
thought  it  was  safer  to  settle  her  and  her  family 
at  Wissembourg.  The  baroness  remained  there 
only  a  few  months.  In  September,  1793,  at  the 
time  when  universal  conscription  was  decreed, 
the  spouses  found  it  necessary  to  flee  in  disguise 
into  the  Palatinate.  Madame  de  Bode  has  given 
in  one  of  her  letters  a  very  touching  story  of 
these  tragic  days. 

A  month  later  the  Allies  were  conquerors. 
Wurmser  carried  the  lines  of  Wissembourg;  the 
patriots  retreated  under  the  walls  of  Strasburg. 
Our  fugitives  returned  to  Soultz.  "We  shall 
have,"  wrote  the  baroness,  "the  pleasure  of 
becoming  Germans  again."  The  illusion  was 
brief.  Hoche  took  command  of  the  French  army ; 
though  beaten  at  Kaiserslautern,  he  recaptured  the 
lines  of  Wissembourg  on  December  22,  1793,  and 
reconquered  Alsace.  This  time  all  was  ended : 
it  was  necessary  to  abandon  Soultz.  The  baron 
fled  into  Baden,  the  baroness  and  her  children  took 
refuge  in  the  convent  of  Altenberg  near  Wetzlar. 

■'li  ■ 


Portrait  of  Hoche. 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  217 


And  from  there  she  wrote  this  letter,  which  we 
must  place  beside  the  one  we  quoted  above,  in 
which  she  told  so  ingenuously  her  joys  as  a 
sovereign : 

"We  have  been  lifted  very  high  by  fortune  only 
to  be  precipitated  so  much  lower,  for  at  present 
we  can  no  longer  have  any  hope.  We  have 
lost  everything :  all  our  ravishing  furniture,  all 
our  music,  our  beautiful  pianos,  several  violins, 
among  which  was  a  very  valuable  Cremona,  the 
whole  of  our  charming  library  (all  the  important 
authors  in  several  languages,  more  than  fifteen  hun- 
dred volumes),  all  our  linen,  almost  all  the  chil- 
dren's clothes,  all  my  pastimes,  our  whole  collection 
of  natural  history,  and,  a  thing  which  I  very 
much  regret,  about  twenty  sketchbooks  of  flower 
paintings  by  myself,  the  work  of  a  whole  summer 
(I  painted  them  with  much  care  and  very  hand- 
somely, even  if  I  do  say  it  myself,  and  they  have 
been  very  much  admired),  two  carriages,  several 
carts,  harnesses,  saddles,  and  all  the  furnishings  of 
the  stables ;  vessels  of  pewter,  porcelain,  crystal, 
quantities  of  beautiful  glasses,  two  pairs  of  globes ; 
a  very  fine  collection  of  geographic  maps;  in 
short,  I  can  hardly  tell  you  all  that  we  have  lost. 
We  have  only  saved  a  very  few  things,  and  those 
by  chance.  ... 

"In  reading  over  what  I  have  just  written  it 


218 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


seems  to  me  nonsensical  to  mention  the  loss  of 
such  things,  which  are  like  so  many  drops  of  water 
in  the  sea  in  comparison  with  the  immense  losses 
which  we  have  experienced.  ..." 

We  must  congratulate  ourselves  that  Madame  de 
Bode  only  noticed  what  she  called  her  nonsense 
after  she  had  written  her  letter.  Thereby  we  have 
gained  an  amusing  inventory,  thanks  to  which  we 
have  been  able  to  enter  her  house  and  her  existence 
"on  the  ground  floor"  ;  we  know  the  manner  of 
life  of  the  Lord  of  Soultz. 

"The  world  is  large  enough!"  wrote  the 
courageous  Englishwoman,  "if  we  have  lost  our 
property  in  one  country  perhaps  we  will  find  a 
better  in  another."  She  departed  for  Russia,  and 
obtained  from  Catherine  property  on  the  banks 
of  the  Dnieper.  Her  husband  died.  She  settled 
in  Finland  with  her  children.  But  she  still 
thought  of  the  property  which  she  had  abandoned 
in  Alsace,  and  in  1802  she  imagined  that  the  time 
was  favorable  to  make  a  claim  on  the  French 
government.  Then  she  returned  to  Soultz  with 
her  daughter.  The  property  had  been  seques- 
trated and  part  of  it  had  been  sold.  The  re- 
mainder, become  national  property,  had  been 
leased  for  a  long  term  of  years  to  the  former  in- 
tendant  of  the  domain.    He  was  a  worthy  man 


The  Letters  of  the  Baroness  de  Bode  219 


who  welcomed  the  dispossessed  owner  and  prom- 
ised her  his  aid.  But  since  the  departure  of 
Baron  de  Bode  debts  had  accumulated.  The 
creditors  showed  their  teeth.  The  two  women 
feared  that  they  would  be  thrown  into  prison  and 
fled  to  Paris.  The  baroness  imagined  that  her 
English  birth  would  assure  her  of  the  protection 
of  the  English  ambassador.  But  she  arrived  at 
a  moment  when  relations  were  strained  between 
France  and  Great  Britain.  The  ambassador 
could  do  nothing  for  her.  She  returned  to  Russia, 
where  she  settled  down  with  her  children,  and 
died  in  1812. 

Her  son  succeeded,  after  tedious  lawsuits,  in 
securing  the  return  of  the  lands,  the  salt  spring, 
and  the  mine  at  Soultz.  But  the  creditors  were  too 
numerous.    Everything  was  sold. 

At  the  close  of  the  adventure,  how  is  it  possible 
to  avoid  thinking  of  that  sod  of  grass  which  the 
King's  Commissioner,  assisted  by  M.  Rothjacob, 
Bailiff  of  Soultz,  offered  to  the  Baron  Auguste  de 
Bode,  on  the  day  when  the  latter  entered  his 
capital,  to  the  sound  of  bells,  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  blessings  of  his  subjects,  male  and  female? 


XVI 


THE  CHATEAU  OF  REICHSHOFFEN 

IN  the  midst  of  a  fresh,  lovely,  and  softly 
undulating  champaign,  behold  a  village 
with  white  fagades  and  little  overhanging 
roofs.  The  gaiety  of  a  street  fair  today  fills  all 
its  ways ;  small  merchants  have  set  up  their 
booths  in  every  direction;  the  open  windows 
of  the  inns  disclose  the  tables  full  of  drinkers; 
the  crowd  of  peasants  comes  and  goes  before  the 
flying  horses  and  the  puppet  shows.  I  am  at 
Reichshoffen.  This  word  has  retained  such  a 
tragic  sound,  it  evokes  to  our  imagination  so 
many  heroic  and  funereal  memories,  that  for  a 
moment  I  can  scarcely  believe  that  this  hamlet 
of  mirth  can  be  the  same  whence,  forty  years  ago, 
came  the  first  news  of  our  first  disaster.  .  .  . 
To  tell  the  truth,  the  battle  which  in  France  is 
known  by  the  name  of  Reichshoffen  was  not 
fought  at  this  place.  The  fight  in  the  morning 
was  at  Woerth,  and  in  the  afternoon  at  Froesch- 
willer,  which  is  four  kilometers  from  here.  It 
was  at  Morsbronn  and  in  the  suburbs  of  Elsass- 


THE  CHATEAU  OF  REICHSHOFFEN 


The  Chateau  of  Reichshoffen  221 


hausen  that  the  cuirassiers  charged  and  died.  I 
have  just  crossed  this  battle  field,  where  it  is  still 
so  easy  to  follow  the  phases  of  the  combat,  for 
monuments  and  tombs  mark  the  successive  posi- 
tions occupied  by  the  two  armies.  But  Reichs- 
hoffen beheld  the  frightful  rout  of  MacMahon's 
army,  and  such  souvenirs  make  a  sharp  contrast 
to  the  spectacle  of  smiling  nature  and  the  villagers 
fairing.  .  .  . 

At  the  end  of  one  of  the  streets  a  great  donjon, 
a  pitilessly  restored  remnant  of  an  ancient  strong- 
hold, rises  at  the  entrance  of  the  modern  chateau. 
This  is  instantly  recognizable  by  its  noble  and 
simple  architecture  as  of  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  It  is  a  long  structure  which  was 
formerly  flanked  by  two  symmetrical  wings, 
each  terminated  by  a  Doric  colonnade.  One  of 
these  wings  has  been  demolished  to  allow  the  sun 
to  enter  the  court  of  honor ;  a  terrace  planted 
with  flowers  replaces  it.  There  are  no  sculptures 
upon  the  bare  front,  the  beauty  of  which  is  at- 
tributable to  the  correctness  of  its  proportions 
and  the  harmonious  distribution  of  its  openings. 
The  opposite  facade,  facing  the  park,  shows  the 
same  grandeur  and  the  same  sobriety.  But  on 
this  side  the  picture  assumes  a  marvelous  grace 
as  one  goes  away  from  the  building.  The  park, 
with  its  grass  plots,  its  running  waters,  and  its 


222  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


clumps  of  great  trees,  surrounds  the  edifice,  which 
is  wholly  built  of  red  sandstone.  The  autumn 
foliage  makes  a  golden  frame  for  this  rose-colored 
castle,  before  which  immense  lawns  spread  their 
carpets  of  humid  green.  An  admirable  picture, 
which  in  line  and  color  offers  us  the  perfect  model 
of  a  certain  type  of  beauty  which  we  may  call 
peculiarly  Alsatian.  The  close  accord  between 
the  house  and  the  landscape,  the  simple  strength 
of  the  construction,  the  delicate  harmonv  of  the 
greenery  with  the  pink  sandstone,  unite  to  form 
the  very  seduction  of  Alsace.  Xowhere  have  I 
felt  it  more  clearly. 

Behind  these  severe  facades  charming  furniture 
and  precious  paintings  show  the  acme  of  luxury 
and  elegance,  and  this  opposition  is  another  of 
the  characteristics  of  Alsatian  taste.  Chairs, 
tables,  and  consoles  of  the  eighteenth  century 
still  give  the  apartments  their  physiognomy  of 
long  ago.  One  of  the  mantels  is  adorned  with 
a  magnificent  clock,  signed  Caffieri,  the  dial  of 
which  rests  on  the  back  of  an  elephant :  it  be- 
longed to  Marie  Antoinette :  one  of  the  Swiss 
guards  who  escaped  the  massacre  wrapped  it  in 
a  sack,  carried  it  to  Bale  on  a  barrow,  and  sold 
it  to  a  Swiss  officer  who  later  parted  with  it  to 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  Reichshoffen.  A  few 
fine  paintings  adorn  the  salons  of  the  ground 


The  Chateau  of  Reichshoffen  223 


floor :  a  triptych  of  the  Rhenish  school,  a  sketch 
by  Rembrandt,  two  portraits  by  Cuyp,  a  delicious 
little  head  by  Sebastian  Bourdon.  Yet  all  these 
works  of  art  are  not  part  of  a  collection ;  they 
are  the  real  life  and  everyday  dress  of  the  old  and 
magnificent  home. 

This  noble  mansion  is  still  Alsatian,  profoundly 
Alsatian,  in  its  history  and  in  the  names  of  those 
who  have  dwelt  there.  Reichshoffen  belonged  in 
turn  to  the  Bishops  of  Strasburg  and  the  Dukes 
of  Lorraine.  It  was  the  property  of  Francis  of 
Lorraine ;  when  he  became  emperor  he  sold  it  to 
John  of  Dietrich,  ironmaster  of  Niederbronn,  who, 
having  been  ennobled  and  created  a  baron  of  the 
empire  by  Louis  XV,  became  Lord  of  Reichshoffen, 
Oberbronn  and  Niederbronn,  Count  of  the  Ban  de 
la  Roche,  Lord  of  Angeot,  etc. 

John  of  Dietrich  preserved  only  a  single  tower 
of  the  old  feudal  castle  and  had  a  new  chateau 
built  by  Salins  de  Montfort,  the  same  architect 
who  a  few  years  later  was  to  reconstruct  Saverne 
for  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan.  Of  this  house  now 
before  our  eyes  he  made,  thanks  to  his  immense 
fortune,  a  princely  residence.  Great  festivals 
were  held  there.  The  Baroness  of  Oberkirch  has 
left  us  an  amusing  story  of  the  jubilations  which 
celebrated  the  strange  marriage  of  the  little 
prince  of  Nassau-Sarrebruck  with  Mademoiselle 


224  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


de  Montbarey.  The  wife  was  eighteen  years  old 
and  her  husband  was  twelve.  "The  whole  prov- 
ince and  all  the  neighboring  courts  were  invited ; 
it  was  magnificent.  Hunts,  banquets  and  drives 
lasted  for  three  days.  M.  d'Oberkirch  and  I 
went  there.  I  met  many  people  whom  I  knew, 
both  German  and  French.  The  husband  did  not 
wish  to  dance  with  his  wife  at  the  ball ;  they  had 
to  threaten  to  whip  him  if  he  didn't  stop  making 
a  laughing-stock  of  himself  by  crying,  but  instead 
of  this  they  deluged  him  with  filberts,  pistachio 
nuts  and  sweetmeats  of  all  kinds  to  persuade  him 
to  dance  the  minuet  with  her.  He  was  very  much 
smitten  with  little  Louise  von  Dietrich,  a  pretty 
child  even  younger  than  himself,  and  he  went 
back  to  her  side  as  soon  as  he  could  escape.  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  much  we  laughed  at  the 
appearance  of  this  little  booby." 

Frederick,  the  son  of  John  of  Dietrich,  was 
mayor  of  Strasburg  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 
The  father  was  imprisoned  and  the  son  sent  to 
the  scaffold.  Reichshoffen  was  bought  at  a 
miserable  price  by  a  certain  Mathieu,  who  kept 
it  until  1811,  and  luckily  did  not  take  it  into  his 
head  to  demolish  the  chateau.  He  sold  it  to 
Paul  Athanasius  Renouard  de  Bussierre,  a  man 
from  Berri  who  had  settled  in  Alsace  after  marry- 
ing Mademoiselle  Frederique  de  Franck,  who  was 


The  Chateau  of  Reichshoffen  225 


descended  by  her  mother  from  the  family  of 
Tuckheim.  His  oldest  son,  Theodore  de  Bussierre, 
succeeded  him  in  the  ownership  of  the  chateau.  A 
daughter  of  Theodore  de  Bussierre  married  Count 
de  Leusse,  a  member  of  a  family  from  Dauphiny, 
who  in  his  turn  became  the  master  of  Reichs- 
hoffen. I  dwell  upon  these  genealogical  details 
because  the  example  of  the  families  of  Bussierre 
and  Leusse  shows  how  Alsace  has  attracted  and 
retained  so  many  families  which  have  come  dur- 
ing the  nineteenth  century  from  other  French 
provinces. 

Count  de  Leusse  rendered  a  brilliant  service  to 
his  adopted  country  by  the  improvements  which 
he  introduced  in  the  management  of  its  agri- 
cultural and  woodland  resources.  He  took  part 
in  the  Crimean  War  and  retained  a  very  lively 
taste  for  military  matters.  He  loved  letters  and 
history  and  was  one  of  the  most  fervent  disciples 
of  Gobineau  (Note  26).  After  being  elected 
deputy  in  1869  for  the  district  of  Haguenau  and 
Wissembourg,  Count  de  Leusse  had  returned  to 
Reichshoffen  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of 
war.  He  was  consequently  at  home  when,  after 
the  news  of  the  defeat  at  Wissembourg,  Mac- 
Mahon  suddenly  left  Strasburg,  concentrated  his 
armv  around  Reichshoffen,  and  established  his 
headquarters  in  the  chateau.    The  marshal  spent 


226  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  night  of  August  4  in  a  room  on  the  ground 
floor,  and  there  slept  upon  a  magnificent  parade 
bed  of  Louis  XV  style :  Bliicher  and  Wellington 
had  previously  occupied  the  same  chamber. 

During  the  whole  of  August  5,  he  reconnoitred 
the  country,  guided  by  Count  de  Leusse;  he  did 
not  believe  that  the  battle  was  imminent.  But 
the  forest  guards  announced  that  masses  of  the 
enemy  were  marching  and  their  reports  were  dis- 
quieting to  the  count,  who  had  full  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  these  veterans. 
MacMahon  passed  the  following  night  at  Froesch- 
willer  and  Count  de  Leusse  sought  him  out 
at  daybreak  to  beg  him  to  refuse  to  fight,  support- 
ing the  prayers  of  Ducrot  and  de  Raoult  to  the 
same  effect.  The  Marshal  was  still  hesitating 
when  they  heard  explosions :  the  advance  guards 
were  engaged.  .  .  .  And  everyone  knows  the 
terrible  consequences. 

The  Count  obtained  permission  to  accompany 
the  headquarters  staff,  and  remained  beside  Mac- 
Mahon throughout  the  day.  When  the  rout 
commenced  he  hastily  returned  to  ReichshofTen, 
which  the  German  army  was  about  to  enter. 
He  was  mayor  of  the  commune  and  the  Countess 
de  Leusse  had  established  a  hospital  in  the  chateau. 
The  enemy  soon  appeared  in  the  village  streets. 
At  the  head  of  a  squad  of  Prussian  soldiers,  a 


The  Chateau  of  Eeichshoffen  227 

— 3 —      ~  — 
young  sub-lieutenant,   crazy  with  rage,  cried, 

brandishing  his  saber:    "The  mayor!  where  is 

the  mayor?"    He  screamed  that  some  one  had 

fired  on  his  men  from  a  window,  that  he  held  the 

mayor  responsible  for  the  ambush,  and  that  he 

was  going  to  have  him  shot  on  the  spot.  With 

admirable  coolness  the  Count  remonstrated  to 

this  furious  being  that  he  was  violating  the  laws 

of  wa.r,  and  that  his  duty  was  at  the  least  to  try 

him  by  court-martial.    Somewhat  intimidated, 

the  officer  turned  to  go.    But  the  Count,  looking 

him  straight  in  the  face,  continued:    "I  have 

been  a  soldier  like  yourself,  and  I  have  the  right 

to  tell  you  that  your  conduct  is  a  disgrace  to  the 

shoulder-straps  which  you  wear.    You  pretend  to 

command  these  men  and  you  are  not  able  to 

master  yourself.    Officer,  you  were  going  to  act 

like  a  private."    Then  the  sub-lieutenant  bowed 

his  head,  broke  down,  and  began  to  sob. 

Count  de  Leusse  died  in  1906.    Madame  the 

Countess  de  Leusse  and  her  children  still  live  at 

Reichshoffen,  and  one  may  yet  breathe  in  the 

castle  of  John  of  Dietrich  the  sweet  and  salubrious 

perfume  of  Alsace. 


XVII 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  ART  IN 

ALSACE 


HEN  traveling  in  Alsace,  I  have  often 
admired  the  monuments  and  works  of 
art  of  the  eighteenth  century  which  are 


there  so  plentiful :  chateaux  and  houses,  churches 
and  palaces,  wood  carvings,  furniture,  ironwork. 
In  no  province  of  France  could  one,  I  believe,  dis- 
cover more  numerous  and  more  precious  examples 
of  the  styles  of  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI. 

Astonishment  always  succeeded  my  admira- 
tion. Before  each  of  these  works,  curious  to 
know  by  whom  it  had  been  executed  and  in  what 
circumstances,  I  opened  my  guide-book  like  every 
good  tourist,  but  never  found  there  more  than  a 
dry  and  brief  mention.  Frequently  the  guide- 
book even  neglected  to  mention  this  church,  or 
those  wood  carvings,  the  sight  of  which  had  en- 
chanted me.  I  consulted  the  great  works  which 
archeologists  and  historians  have  written  about 
Alsace :  they  were  as  silent  as  my  guide.  I 
finally  questioned  Alsatians,  who  knew  and  loved 
their  country;  they  tried  with  obliging  zeal  to 


228 


Eighteenth  Century  Art  in  Alsace  229 

answer  me,  but  ended  by  confessing  their  igno- 
rance and  told  me  that  in  this  matter  everything 
was  yet  to  be  studied  and  discovered.  (Never- 
theless, I  must  say  that  they  have  furnished  me 
the  little  precise  information  which  will  follow.) 

Disdain  and  ignorance  are  easy  to  explain. 

They  are  the  consequence  of  the  absurd  reaction 
which,  during  a  great  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
turned  artists,  amateurs  and  critics  against  the  art 
of  the  two  preceding  centuries.  Having  rehabili- 
tated the  works  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Romanticism 
turned  against  the  Classicists  the  reproach  of 
barbarism  which  they  had  so  long  thrown  in  the 
teeth  of  the  Gothicists.  Today,  it  is  true,  these 
aberrations  of  the  archeologists  are  beginning  to 
be  unfashionable,  and  we  have  arrived  at  under- 
standing that  without  ceasing  to  admire  Notre 
Dame,  it  is  possible  to  feel  the  beauty  of  Versailles. 

In  Alsace  the  question  of  taste  is  complicated 
by  a  political  question.  Since  1871  Germany  has 
endeavored  to  efface  from  Alsatian  memories 
whatever  might  recall  a  French  past.  For  thirty 
years  Alsace  remained  silent  and  terrorized,  with- 
out strength  to  react  against  the  assertions  of 
German  science  and  the  enterprises  of  German 
taste.  German  science  proclaimed  that  the  French 
spirit  was  only  frivolity,  sensuality,  and  barefaced 
licentiousness.    German  taste  pronounced  that 


230  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  monuments  with  which  France  formerly 
adorned  Alsace  were  beneath  contempt,  devoid 
of  beauty,  and  unworthy  of  a  great  people.  When 
they  inventoried  the  treasures  of  their  new  con- 
quest, the  Germans  omitted  the  noble  and  delicate 
creations  of  the  artists  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
But,  since  the  abolition  of  the  dictatorship,  the 
young  people  whose  ideas  and  work  I  have  already 
described  have  used  the  half -liberty  allowed  them 
by  the  government  to  recall  to  their  fellow  citizens 
the  history  and  the  traditions  of  their  country. 
They  regard  as  sacred  the  patrimony,  the  whole 
patrimony,  which  they  have  received  from  their 
ancestors.  They  consider  with  the  same  pride 
and  the  same  piety  the  old  ruined  castles,  witnesses 
of  feudal  Alsace,  which  crown  the  summits  of  the 
Vosges  ;  the  elegantly  carved  houses  which  were  the 
homes  of  the  citizens  in  the  time  of  the  Renais- 
sance ;  the  peasant  dwellings  whose  great  gables, 
garlanded  with  vines  and  capped  with  tiles,  give 
so  much  grace  and  picturesqueness  to  the  villages ; 
and  lastly,  those  harmonious  architectural  re- 
mains, those  fine  sculptures,  with  which  the 
eighteenth  century  enriched  their  province.  They 
feel  that  this  diversity  makes  the  originality  and 
glory  of  Alsace.  We  must  count  on  them  to  save 
from  forgetfulness  the  makers  of  the  monuments 
disdained  by  German  historians  and  critics. 


Eighteenth  Century  Art  in  Alsace  231 


From  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  which  gave 
France  Upper  and  Lower  Alsace,  to  the  Peace  of 
Ryswick,  which,  in  1697,  ended  the  independence 
of  Strasburg,  until  then  a  free  imperial  city,  the 
country,  ravaged  by  the  passage  of  armies,  had 
not  been  able  to  repair  the  frightful  destruction 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  The  seventeenth  cen- 
tury left  to  Alsace  no  other  monument  than  cita- 
dels, barracks,  and  fortifications.  The  fields  were 
waste,  the  towns  deserted ;  frightful  distress  held 
sway  between  the  Vosges  and  the  Rhine.  "The 
population,"  wrote  in  1797  Marquis  de  La  Grange, 
the  French  intendant,  "  whose  natural  impulse  is 
joy,  since  one  saw  formerly  in  the  province  only 
violins  and  dances,  has  been  reduced  by  the  wars 
to  two  thirds  of  its  former  number.  We  find  in 
ancient  registers  that  before  the  great  German 
wars  the  number  of  villages,  families,  and  fire- 
sides of  Upper  and  Lower  Alsace  amounted  to  a 
third  more  than  at  present.  .  .  ." 

The  Peace  of  Ryswick  marks  the  end  of  the 
miseries  of  Alsace.  With  peace  began  an  era  of 
prosperity.  The  country  was  repeopled  by  im- 
migration. Agriculture  and  commerce  revived. 
The  violins  were  tuned,  and  the  dances  recom- 
menced. Soon  the  architects  and  the  artists  set 
to  work.    And  French  art  penetrated  Alsace. 


XVIII 


THE  CHATEAUX  OF  THE  CARDINALS 

OF  ROHAN 

THE  first  sponsors  of  French  taste  in 
Alsace  were  the  four  Cardinals  de  Ro- 
han, who  succeeded  each  other  in  the 
episcopal  see  of  Strasburg  from  1704  to  the 
Revolution. 

Sovereigns  of  more  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty  towns  and  villages,  they  were  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  the  ambassadors  of  Alsace  at  the 
court  of  France,  and  more  than  once  they  de- 
fended its  privileges. 

None  of  these  four  prelates  was  remarkable  for 
his  talents  or  his  virtues.  They  were  grand 
seigneurs,  proud  of  their  birth,  of  their  mag- 
nificence and  of  their  prodigality.  Their  man- 
ners were  far  from  evangelical.  They  were  but 
mediocre  theologians.  But  they  were  endowed 
with  that  air  of  grandeur  and  benevolence  which 
so  long  saved  the  French  nobility  from  unpopu- 
larity. They  fulfilled  with  good  grace  and  inimi- 
table magnificence  the  rites  of  aristocratic  life. 

232 


PORTRAIT  OF  CARDINAL  ARM  AND  GASTON  DE  ROHAN-SOUBISE 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  233 


The  episcopal  palace  of  Strasburg  was  built  by 
Armand  Gaston  de  Rohan-Soubise,  the  first  of 
the  four  Cardinals  de  Rohan,  who,  from  uncle  to 
nephew,  succeeded  each  other  in  the  bishopric  of 
Strasburg  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

This  Rohan  was  scarcely  fifteen  years  old  when 
Madame  de  Sevigne  had  already  called  him,  "that 
beautiful  abbe,  so  beautiful  and  too  beautiful." 
In  a  celebrated  portrait  of  the  cardinal,  Saint- 
Simon  wrote:  "He  was  rather  tall,  a  little  too 
fat,  with  the  face  of  Cupid  (and,  beyond  its 
singular  beauty,  his  countenance  had  all  the 
possible  but  most  natural  graces,  together  with 
something  of  the  imposing  and  still  more  of  the 
interesting),  an  admirable  facility  of  speech  and 
a  marvelous  ability  for  keeping  all  the  advan- 
tages which  he  could  obtain  from  his  principality 
and  his  purple  without  showing  either  affectation 
or  pride  or  embarrassment  either  for  himself  or 
others.  .  .  ."  Do  not  believe  that  Saint-Simon 
was  infatuated.  A  young  officer,  Marquis  de 
Valfons,  who  saw  the  cardinal  at  Saverne  two 
years  before  he  died,  wrote  in  his  Souvenirs  : 
"The  beauty  of  his  smiling  countenance  inspired 
confidence.  He  had  the  true  physiognomy  of 
the  man  destined  to  command ;  his  features 
always  had  the  air  which  makes  one  adore;  a 
glance,  which  cost  him  nothing,  was  a  favor." 


234  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


This  beautiful  cardinal,  a  friend  of  literature, 
and  a  true  connoisseur  of  works  of  art,  left  the 
spiritual  care  of  his  diocese  "to  a  holy  and  mitred 
valet,  paid  to  lay  on  hands."  (Here  we  recognize 
again  the  style  of  Saint-Simon.)  He  was  a 
Molinist  and  was  reputed  to  be  the  chief  of  the 
bishops  who  were  eager  to  accept  the  bull  Uni- 
genitus  ;  but  religious  disputes  did  not  interest 
him.  "He  lent,"  say  the  Secret  Memoirs,  "only 
his  name,  his  palace  and  his  table  to  the  prelates 
of  his  party,"  but  this  was  not  a  bad  way  of  help- 
ing a  cause  .  .  .  even  a  theological  one.  It  would 
also  not  be  wise  to  believe  that  the  magnificence 
displayed  at  Saverne  and  at  Strasburg  by  Car- 
dinal de  Rohan  were  without  utility  in  the  po- 
litical task  which  the  King  of  France  had  in 
Alsace.  When  the  cardinal  died,  Louis  XV  is 
said  to  have  exclaimed :  "I  have  just  had  a  veri- 
table loss  in  the  person  of  Cardinal  de  Rohan ; 
he  was  a  great  lord,  an  excellent  bishop,  and  a 
good  citizen."  A  great  lord?  If  the  witness  of 
Saint-Simon  is  not  sufficient  study  the  admirable 
portrait  by  Rigaud.  An  excellent  bishop?  This 
meant  to  the  king's  mind  a  bishop  whom  the 
members  of  parliament  detested  with  all  their 
hearts.  A  good  citizen?  It  was  true,  for  France 
and  Alsace  reaped  the  harvest  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  cardinal. 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  235 


Like  all  the  great  lords  who  are  smitten  with 
the  taste  for  luxury  and  ostentation,  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  the  passion  for  building.  Besides,  he 
had  a  good  example  to  follow,  being  one  of  the 
sons  of  that  Francois  de  Rohan-Soubise  who  in 
1697  bought  one  of  the  vastest  and  oldest  homes 
of  the  Marais,  the  Hotel  de  Guise,  demolished  it 
and  had  constructed  in  its  place  by  the  architect 
Delamaire  the  admirable  structure  which  today 
shelters  the  national  archives :  the  architect 
Boffrand,  the  painter  Natoire,  the  sculptors 
Adam  the  Elder  and  Lemoine  joined  in  decorat- 
ing the  apartments ;  Robert  Le  Lorrain  carved  the 
statues  of  the  portal  and  the  fagade. 

Armand  Gaston  de  Rohan,  named  at  first 
coadjutor  of  the  Cardinal  Egon  de  Furstenberg, 
became  Bishop  of  Strasburg  in  1704 :  he  was 
thirty  years  old.  His  first  care  was  to  have 
built  by  Delamaire  a  house  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Hotel  de  Soubise ;  it  is  the  Hotel  de  Rohan 
of  the  Rue  Vieille-du-Temple,  which  was  usually 
called  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  Hotel  de 
Strasbourg.  The  cardinal  employed  also  Robert 
Le  Lorrain,  who  executed,  above  the  door  of  the 
stables,  the  superb  high  relief  The  Horses  of  the 
Sun. 

At  Strasburg  the  episcopal  palace  had  threat- 
ened to  collapse  for  a  long  time  before  the  cardinal 


236 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


undertook  to  replace  it  by  a  sumptuous  palace. 
He  dreamed  of  it  from  the  beginning  of  his  episco- 
pate :  in  1704  he  bought  two  houses  adjacent  to 
the  old  buildings.  But  he  was  obliged  to  post- 
pone his  project.  The  magistracy  refused  to  allow 
him  to  exercise  episcopal  jurisdiction  within  the 
limits  of  the  future  palace.  He  had  to  secure  the 
intervention  of  the  king  before  this  body  would 
accept  this  diminution  of  the  ancient  municipal 
privileges.  Then  the  cardinal,  to  obtain  the 
funds  necessary  for  the  construction,  had  to  ask 
and  obtain  the  right  to  levy  on  his  diocese  an 
annual  tax  of  12,000  livres.  The  building  was  not 
commenced  until  1731. 

The  history  of  the  chateau  of  the  Rohans  was 
almost  unknown  until  very  recently. 

The  Bibliotheque  Nationale  possesses  a  large 
number  of  plans  and  manuscripts  derived  from 
the  studio  of  Robert  de  Cotte.  But  these  papers, 
of  the  highest  interest  for  the  study  of  French 
architecture  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  were  separated  among  the  different  de- 
partments of  the  library,  and  in  each  department 
had  been  classed  into  different  series.  It  was 
therefore  almost  impossible  to  make  use  of  them 
until  M.  Pierre  Marcel  had  the  idea  of  making 
and  publishing  an  Inventory  of  the  Manuscripts 


\ 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  237 


of  Robert  de  Cotte  and  of  Jules  Robert  de  Cotte, 
preserved  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  He  added 
analyses,  notes,  and  elucidations.  It  is  now  per- 
fectly easy  to  obtain  and  utilize  the  manuscripts 
concerning  the  construction  of  the  chateau  of  the 
Rohans  (Note  27). 

Thanks  to  these  documents,  we  are  certain  that 
the  author  of  the  plans  of  the  chateau  was  de 
Cotte.  The  edifice  has  often  been  attributed  to 
the  architect  Massol.  We  shall  see  what  part  he 
played.  But  the  building  was  constructed  in 
accordance  with  the  designs  of  Robert  de  Cotte ; 
it  was  he  who  chose  the  contractors  and  verified 
the  specifications. 

When  he  was  commissioned  by  Cardinal  de 
Rohan  to  draw  up  the  plans  of  the  new  episcopal 
palace  in  Strasburg,  Robert  de  Cotte  was  ap- 
proaching the  end  of  a  glorious  career.  He  was 
almost  seventy-five  years  old. 

He  was  born  at  Paris  about  1656,  the  son  and 
the  grandson  of  architects.  His  grandfather, 
Fremin  de  Cotte,  had  been  employed  as  an  en- 
gineer at  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle  and  had  written 
a  book  entitled  :  Short  and  Easy  Explanation  of 
the  Five  Orders  of  Architecture.  Robert  learned 
the  first  elements  of  his  art  in  his  father's  studio, 
and  then  became  the  pupil  of  Jules  Hardouin 
Mansart,  the  architect  of  Versailles.    A  close 


238  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


friendship  soon  bound  him  to  his  master,  than 
whom  he  was  younger  by  only  ten  years.  He 
married  Catherine  Bodin,  sister  of  Anne  Bodin, 
Mansart's  wife. 

During  the  first  half  of  his  life  he  worked  only 
under  Mansart's  orders,  interpreting  his  plans 
and  supervising  building  operations.  He  collab- 
orated in  this  way  in  the  two  masterpieces  of  his 
master,  the  Church  of  the  Invalides  and  the  Chapel 
of  Versailles.  After  Mansart's  death  he  inherited 
his  brother-in-law's  position  and  became  the 
king's  first  architect,  intendant  of  his  building 
operations,  and  director  of  the  mint.  Among 
his  works  we  may  mention,  at  Versailles,  the 
Ionic  colonnade  of  the  Trianon ;  at  Paris,  the 
choir  of  Notre  Dame  and  numerous  private 
dwellings,  including  the  Hotel  de  La  Vrilliere  (at 
present  the  Bank  of  France),  the  Hotel  d'Estrees, 
the  Hotel  du  Lude  ;  in  the  provinces,  the  episcopal 
palace  at  Chalons  and  that  of  Verdun  ;  abroad,  the 
Hotel  of  Thurn  and  Taxis  at  Frankfort,  the 
Chateau  at  Bonn  for  the  Elector  of  Cologne.  .  .  . 

"He  was  gifted,"  said  d'Argenville,  in  his  Lives 
of  the  Famous  Architects,  "with  an  easy  imagina- 
tion, vivified  and  regulated  by  healthy  judgment 
and  assiduous  labor.  .  .  ."  This  is  indeed  the 
man  of  whom  Rigaud  made  the  admirable  portrait 
which  may  be  seen  in  the  Louvre,  a  portrait  from 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  239 


which  Drevet  made  such  a  charming  engraving. 
Observe  the  delicacy  of  the  countenance,  the  free- 
dom of  the  posture,  the  flame  of  the  glance.  This 
face  reflects  at  once  reason,  spirit,  and  passion. 
These  are  not  the  features  of  a  genius,  but  the 
ease,  surety,  and  fineness  of  an  inventive  and 
prudent  artist,  of  a  man  full  of  resources,  adroit, 
laborious,  and  especially  very  thoughtful.  It  is 
said  that  he  conversed  agreeably  and  was  given 
to  charming  repartee,  which  once  brought  him 
the  favor  of  Louis  XIV.  One  day  in  the  park 
of  one  of  the  royal  dwellings,  de  Cotte  had  had  a 
new  alley  cut.  Mansart  excelled  in  thus  creating 
charming  viewpoints.  De  Cotte  had  wished  to 
imitate  him,  but  made  a  mistake  in  drawing 
the  plan  so  that  his  alley  opened  in  front  of  a  mill, 
a  common  windmill.  Louis  XIV,  happening  to 
promenade  in  the  park,  expressed  his  surprise  at 
this  somewhat  too  rustic  perspective.  But  de 
Cotte  anticipated  the  king's  displeasure:  "Sire, 
reassure  yourself,"  he  said,  " Mansart  will  have  it 
gilded!" 

Together  with  Boffrand,  Oppenort,  and  Las- 
surance,  Robert  de  Cotte  was  one  of  the  creators 
of  the  style  which  has  often  but  too  narrowly 
been  designated  as  the  style  of  the  Regency,  but 
which  was  in  reality  the  style  of  all  French  decora- 
tion from  1700  to  1750;  we  do  not  say  of  archi- 


240  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


tecture,  for  the  exterior  lines  of  buildings  have 
remained  almost  the  same  during  the  seventeenth, 
eighteenth,  and  even  the  nineteenth  centuries; 
the  employment  of  the  classic  orders  unifies  all 
French  architecture  since  the  Renaissance.  But 
during  the  first  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
everything  suddenly  changed  in  the  ornamenta- 
tion and  arrangement  of  interiors. 

A  sentence  of  Vauvenargues  expresses  in  a  word 
the  principle  of  the  new  style:  "Some  authors 
treat  morality  in  the  way  the  new  architecture 
is  treated,  where  ease  is  sought  above  every- 
thing." In  the  seventeenth  century,  in  imitation 
of  the  Italian  palaces,  French  houses  presented 
only  vast  apartments,  spacious  halls,  "galleries 
running  to  a  vanishing  point,  staircases  of  ex- 
traordinary grandeur."  No  private  entrances. 
Nothing  was  accorded  to  comfort.  Everything 
is  theatrical  in  taste;  everything  is  inspired  by 
Versailles,  and  seems  to  conform  to  the  rigors  of 
royal  etiquette.  It  was  against  this  majestic 
and  grand  art,  ill  according  with  the  requirements 
of  private  life,  that  French  taste  commenced  to 
react  about  1700.  Architects  and  decorators  then 
tried  to  arrange  the  interiors  more  comfortably 
and  to  ornament  them  less  pompously.  "This 
change  in  our  interiors,"  wrote  the  architect 
Patte,  who  fifty  years  later  told  of  this  transforma- 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  241 


tion  of  taste,  "also  caused  the  substitution  for  the 
heavy  ornaments  with  which  they  were  overloaded, 
of  all  kinds  of  decorations  of  light  cabinet  work, 
full  of  taste,  and  varied  in  a  thousand  different 
ways.  .  .  .  They  covered  the  open  beams  of  the 
floors,  and  thus  formed  those  ceilings  which  give 
so  much  grace  to  rooms,  and  which  were  decorated 
with  friezes  and  all  kinds  of  pleasing  ornaments. 
In  place  of  the  pictures  and  the  enormous  bas- 
reliefs  which  had  been  placed  on  the  chimney- 
breasts,  they  decorated  them  with  mirrors,  which, 
by  their  reduplications  of  images  with  those  op- 
posite them,  formed  moving  pictures  which  en- 
larged and  animated  the  apartments,  and  gave 
them  an  air  of  taste  and  magnificence  which  was 
previously  lacking."  This  need  for  comfort  in- 
volved another  innovation,  which  forms  the 
characteristic  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV.  Every- 
where curved  lines  replaced  the  straight  lines  of 
the  previous  century.  All  the  corners  are  rounded 
off  and  the  house  thus  becomes  more  habitable. 
With  a  delicate  instinct  for  harmony,  the  cabinet- 
makers, the  designers,  the  bronze  workers,  com- 
prehended that  these  curves  must  be  repeated  in 
every  part  of  the  decoration  and  the  furnishing, 
in  the  form  of  furniture,  mantelpieces,  candle- 
sticks, door-knobs  and  espagnolettes.  But  at  the 
same  time  the  architects  remained  scrupulously 


242  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

faithful  to  the  rules  of  all  architecture ;  they  did 
not  permit  the  general  equilibrium  or  the  sym- 
metry of  the  paneling  to  be  disturbed.  The 
creators  of  the  new  style  are  not  responsible  for 
the  aberrations  into  which  their  clumsy  imitators 
outside  of  France  allowed  themselves  to  fall. 
The  barbarous  —  and  sometimes  delicious  —  fan- 
tasies of  the  Rococo  are  but  counterfeits  of  their 
ingenious  elegancies. 

Such  was  the  art  practiced  by  Robert  de  Cotte 
with  rare  virtuosity.  And  of  this  art  one  can 
see  no  more  perfect  model  than  the  "  grand  apart- 
ment" of  the  chateau  of  Strasburg. 

Robert  de  Cotte  did  not  come  to  Strasburg.  ■ 
The  French  architects  who  worked  for  foreign 
princes  in  the  eighteenth  century  rarely  left  home. 
The  Cardinal  de  Rohan  sent  a  plan  of  the  ground 
to  de  Cotte.  He  sent  from  Paris  the  plans  and 
elevations  of  the  edifice ;  he  left  to  a  contractor 
of  his  own  choice  the  care  of  directing  the  works 
and  providing  the  details  of  the  construction,  but 
he  was  informed  of  the  bids  of  the  subcontractors 
and  he  made  out  the  specifications.  We  find  in 
his  papers  several  memoranda  relating  to  the  cost 
of  building  materials  and  wages  in  Alsace. 

Among  these  same  documents  there  is  a  letter 
from  one  of  his  pupils,  Le  Chevalier,  who  was  at 


PORTRAIT  OF  ROBERT  DE  COTTE 


c 

The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  243 


Strasburg  in  1730,  at  the  period  when  de  Cotte 
had  just  sent  his  plans  to  the  cardinal,  a  letter 
which  I  am  going  to  quote  in  its  entirety,  for  it 
gives  us  much  information  upon  the  relations  of 
architects  to  their  pupils  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, while  it  also  introduces  to  us  a  curiously 
pushing  personage. 

"  Monsieur, 

"With  the  permission  which  you  have  had  the 
kindness  to  give  me,  I  have  the  honor  of  inform- 
ing you  of  my  conduct  since  I  arrived  here. 

"M.  de  Brou  [Marshal  de  Brou  was  the  king's 
intendant  in  Alsace],  from  whom  I  have  had  the 
kindest  protection,  and  who  desires  to  contribute 
to  my  fortune  in  various  fashions,  has  had  the 
kindness  himself  to  present  me  to  all  the  prin- 
cipal persons  in  the  town,  after  which  he  has 
induced  the  Prince  of  Birkenfeld  to  allow  me  to 
prepare  sketches  for  a  hotel  to  be  constructed 
upon  a  plot  of  ground  belonging  to  him,  and 
situated  on  the  quay  which  is  called  Birkenfeld, 
opposite  the  intendant 's  office.  This  plot  is  very 
irregular.  Nevertheless  I  have  given  all  the  care 
which  I  could  to  make  a  plan  which  proved  pleas- 
ing to  the  prince,  the  princess,  and  all  the  lords 
who  have  seen  it.  This  work  has  induced  a  cer- 
tain confidence  on  their  part,  which  has  persuaded 
them  to  keep  me  here. 


244  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


"  After  this  plan  I  made  one  for  Monsieur  the 
Pretor  [he  means  the  royal  pretor]  adapted  to 
two  different  plots  of  which  I  expect  him  to  choose 
one  or  the  other  to  start  the  work.  .  .  .  [This  Le 
Chevalier,  it  is  easy  to  see,  had  not  lost  any  time 
since  he  had  been  in  Strasburg.] 

"M.  de  Brou  has  had  the  kindness  to  escort  me 
to  Saverne,  and  has  done  me  the  honor  to  present 
me  to  Monsignor  the  Cardinal.  I  have  shown 
him  the  plans  for  the  Prince  of  Birkenfeld,  with 
which  he  was  well  pleased.  He  directed  M.  de 
Ravannes  to  show  me  his  palace.  .  .  .  [The  Abbe* 
de  Ravannes  played  an  important  role  in  the 
household  of  the  Cardinal ;  he  was  a  sort  of  in- 
tendant,  charged  with  the  reception  of  guests  and 
the  care  of  the  furniture  storeroom,  and  I  may 
refer  you  to  the  pleasant  page  which  the  Marquis 
of  Valfons  has  given  him  in  his  Souvenirs.] 

"He  directed  de  Ravannes  to  show  me  his 
palace,  in  which  I  found  such  beautiful  things, 
outside  and  inside,  that  I  begged  from  His  High- 
ness permission  to  return,  in  order  that  I  might 
retain  a  more  vivid  remembrance  of  it.  I  re- 
turned on  a  second  trip  with  M.  de  Brou.  His 
Highness  showed  me  a  plan  of  yours  for  his  bath- 
ing pavilion.  [De  Cotte  had  already  been  con- 
sulted by  the  Cardinal  on  the  subject  of  various 
embellishments  for  the  chateau  of  Saverne.]  His 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  245 


intention  was  that  this  pavilion  should  not  be  as 
wide  as  the  alley.  He  requested  me,  together 
with  M.  de  Brou,  to  make  him  a  new  plan,  in 
accordance  with  this  intention.  [How  delicate 
Le  Chevalier's  situation  became  at  this  point ! 
He  could  not  disobey  the  Cardinal,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  had  the  appearance  of  entering 
into  rivalry  with  his  master.  He  extricated  him- 
self rather  adroitly  from  this  difficult  position.] 

"I  made  the  plan,  out  of  obedience,  and  not 
to  displease  you,  not  believing  that  His  Highness 
would  dwell  for  a  moment  on  this  plan.  I  was 
very  much  surprised  when  he  did  me  the  honor 
of  telling  me  that  he  had  sent  it  to  you.  I  will 
accept  the  emendations  which  you  may  desire  to 
make  upon  the  plan  as  a  mark  of  kindness  on 
your  part,  to  which  I  will  do  myself  the  honor  of 
conforming,  because  I  have  a  perfect  veneration 
for  everything  which  comes  from  you,  and  for  my 
principal  aim  in  life  the  ambition  to  be  able  to 
execute  some  of  your  plans  and  render  you  an 
exact  and  faithful  account  of  it. 

"His  Highness  has  returned  to  me  your  plans 
for  his  episcopal  palace  [after  such  a  formal  ex- 
pression it  cannot  be  doubted  that  de  Cotte  was 
indeed  the  author  of  the  plans  preserved  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale],  which  I  am  studying 
every  day,  in  order,  when  they  are  executed,  to 


246  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


be  in  a  position  to  have  them  followed  as  perfectly 
as  they  deserve. 

"The  Count  of  Hanau  was  going  to  execute  a 
plan  which  M.  Perdrigue,  the  second  engineer, 
had  made  him.  All  his  advisers  were  charitably 
opposed  to  it,  and  Monsignor  the  Cardinal  said  in 
full  company  that  this  plan  had  neither  rhyme 
nor  reason,  and  that  if  he  had  it  executed  he  would 
have  it  raided  by  the  police.  At  the  same  time 
he  and  the  Marshal  [de  Brou]  had  the  kindness 
to  introduce  me  to  the  Count,  for  whom  I  am 
going  to  build ;  but  the  plan  has  not  yet  been 
decided  upon ;  but  I  am  sure  I  will  make  a  good 
one.  [This  Le  Chevalier  was  decidedly  favored 
by  luck.    And  even  this  is  not  all.] 

"Monsignor  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne  [Henri 
Oswald  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Archbishop  of 
Vienne,  was  Grand  Dean  of  the  Chapter  of  Stras- 
burg]  has  given  me  an  order  to  make  a  plan  to 
elongate  at  his  expense,  with  the  consent  of  the 
canons,  the  choir  of  the  cathedral.  The  Sieur 
Saussard  has  handed  me  one  of  your  plans  which 
cannot  be  executed,  because  they  did  not  send 
you  the  plan  of  the  church.  The  staircases 
would  end  directly  against  the  pillar,  and  block 
the  door  of  the  sacristy,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
enclosed  plan.  [Such  mischances  could  have  not 
been  rare  when  architects  thus  worked  at  a  dis- 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  247 


tance.]  I  have  had  constructed  of  planks  the 
elongation  of  the  choir,  the  steps  and  the  altars, 
as  they  were  marked  on  your  plan.  .  .  .  Mon- 
signor  the  Cardinal  must  officiate  on  All  Saints' 
Day  and  will  thus  see  the  effect  better  than  on 
the  plan;  if  these  gentlemen  desire  to  increase 
or  diminish  what  is  on  this  plan,  I  will  let  them 
have  it  done  by  anyone  whom  they  may 
choose.  .  .  . 

"If  you  desire,  Monsieur,  to  contribute  to  my 
fortune,  you  will  oblige  a  man  of  honor  who  will 
be  grateful  all  his  life.  You  have  only  to  take 
the  trouble  to  write  :  '  I  know  Le  Chevalier.  He 
is  an  excellent  person.'  M.  de  Brou,  who  is 
going  to  Paris,  will  be  very  grateful  to  you  for  it. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  profound  respect, 
your  obedient  servant, 

"Le  Chevalier. 
"Strasburg,  this  28th  of  October,  1730." 

What  happened?  Did  Robert  de  Cotte  find 
his  pupil  very  prompt  in  changing  his  plans? 
Did  he  judge  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  con- 
tribute to  the  fortune  of  such  an  enterprising 
young  man?  It  appears  that  he  did  not  write 
the  words  of  recommendation  solicited  by  Le 
Chevalier ;  for,  a  few  months  later,  the  plans  and 
specifications  of  Robert  de  Cotte  were  in  the 
hands  of  another  architect  called  Massol,  who 


248 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


directed  the  work.  He  also  carried  out  the  con- 
struction of  various  buildings  in  Strasburg.  Car- 
dinal de  Rohan,  it  is  said,  recognized  the  fact  that 
he  had  infinitely  more  taste  than  the  German 
architects. 

And  there  was  no  further  question  of  Le 
Chevalier. 

The  construction  of  the  chateau  was  commenced 
in  1731,  under  the  direction  of  Massol,  from  the 
plans  of  Robert  de  Cotte.  These  plans  are  pre- 
served in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  By  refer- 
ring to  them  and  then  viewing  the  edifice  in  its 
present  state  we  see  that  the  original  conception 
has  undergone  only  two  modifications. 

The  first  dates  from  the  time  of  the  original 
building.  Cardinal  de  Rohan  wished  to  add  to 
the  palace  a  structure  to  house  the  chapel  and 
the  library :  it  is  a  pavilion  adjacent  to  the 
chateau,  with  high  arched  windows  opening  upon 
the  111.  The  grace  and  ease  with  which  the  lines 
of  the  two  edifices  are  harmonized  show  the  skill 
of  the  architect.  Robert  de  Cotte  had  no  part 
in  this  addition,  for  no  trace  of  it  is  found  among 
his  papers.  It  is  also  necessary  to  notice  here  a 
curious  peculiarity  of  the  architecture.  In  the 
Rue  du  Musee,  above  a  low  door,  the  side  wall  of 
the  library  shows  a  sort  of  corbeled  bay-window ; 
this  is  doubtless  a  souvenir  of  those  charming 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  249 


oriels  which  decorate  the  fagades  of  all  the  old 
houses  of  Strasburg.  De  Cotte,  who  never  came 
to  Alsace,  would  not  have  imagined  anything  of 
this  kind.  This  part  of  the  chateau  seems  there- 
fore to  be  entirely  the  invention  of  Massol,  whom 
a  long  sojourn  in  Strasburg  had  familiarized  with 
the  forms  of  Alsatian  architecture. 

Another  change  was  made  in  the  primitive 
plan  during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  On  both  sides  of  the  court  rose  a  wall 
pierced  with  a  large  bay,  which  gave  access  on 
the  right  to  the  court  of  the  commons,  on  the  left 
to  that  of  the  stables;  on  the  rest  of  the  wall 
were  constructed  false  arcades.  Later,  behind 
these  walls  there  were  put  up  buildings  sur- 
mounted by  terraces,  and  the  false  arcades  were 
replaced  by  windows.  This  work  has  not  affected 
the  charming  design  of  the  court  of  honor,  but  it 
has  shortened  and  narrowed  the  court  of  the 
stables. 

We  do  not  know  what  the  building  cost.  We 
possess  two  estimates :  one  amounts  to  274,968 
livres,  the  other  to  316,926  livres.  But  they  do 
not  include  the  cabinet  work,  nor  the  mirrors, 
nor  the  sculptures,  nor  the  paintings,  nor  the 
gilding,  nor  the  marble  work,  nor  the  windows. 
They  were  made  before  the  beginning  of  the 
work :  hence  they  should  have  been  exceeded. 


250  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


That  they  were,  and  greatly.  In  1740  nothing 
was  yet  finished,  but  the  expense  had  already 
amounted  to  more  than  700,000  livres,  and  the 
cardinal  had  to  ask  an  extension  for  six  years 
of  the  annual  tax  of  12,000  livres  which  his  di- 
ocesans had  paid  since  1730  for  the  construction 
of  the  episcopal  palace. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  discover  the  names  of 
all  the  collaborators  of  Robert  de  Cotte  and  Mas- 
sol.  Some  of  the  interior  paintings  were,  it  is 
said,  executed  by  Parrocel.  As  to  the  sculptures, 
they  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  by  Robert  Le  Lorrain. 

There  exists  in  the  archives  of  the  department 
of  Bas-Rhin  a  very  interesting  piece  bearing  this 
title  :  Description  of  the  Works  of  Sculpture  which 
the  late  Monsieur  Lelorrain,  Professor  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Painting  and  Sculpture,  made  during 
Several  Years  at  the  Chateau  of  Saverne,  there 
Completed  in  1723,  and  at  the  Episcopal  Palace 
of  Strasburg  in  1735,  1736,  1737,  Works  worthy 
of  being  Admired  and  of  giving  Honor  to  the  Mem- 
ory of  this  Great  Man.  The  works  of  Le  Lorrain 
enumerated  and  described  in  this  document  are : 
The  keystones  of  the  arcades  upon  the  fagade  of 
the  principal  entrance  (these  are  admirable  masks, 
representing  the  features  of  certain  characters  of 
the  Old  Testament) ;  the  two  beautiful  figures  of 
Religion  and  Clemency  which  surmount  the  en- 


PORTRAIT   OF  ROBERT   LE  LORRAIN 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  251 


tablature  of  the  portal  (the  face  of  Clemency  is 
endowed  with  inexpressible  grace) ;  the  groups  of 
children  and  the  vases  which  decorate  the  same 
entablature;  the  Charity  which  ornaments  the 
tympan  of  the  pavilion  at  the  right  of  the  en- 
trance (the  design  alone  is  by  Le  Lorrain,  the 
sculpture  was  executed  by  a  Sieur  Paule) ;  the 
keystones  of  the  nine  windows  of  the  fagade  of 
the  castle  toward  the  courtyard;  the  trophies 
which  decorate  the  triangular  pediment  of  the 
edifice  over  the  courtyard,  and  the  figures  which 
surmount  them,  Strength  and  Prudence  (Strength 
was  completely  restored  a  few  years  ago) ;  the 
two  angels  which  crowned  the  great  window  of 
the  library  (having  been  made  of  copper,  they 
were  melted  down  in  1793). 

In  this  catalogue  we  find  neither  the  keystones 
of  the  ground  floor  arcades  on  the  fagade  above 
the  111  (they  are  exquisite,  especially  the  adorable 
mask  of  a  woman  of  almost  Gothic  grace,  carved 
upon  the  chapel),  nor  the  horses'  heads  which 
ornament  the  walls  of  the  commons  and  the 
stables.  Nevertheless,  these  sculptures  are  in 
Le  Lorrain's  manner;  they  were  doubtless  for- 
gotten by  the  author  of  the  description,  unless 
they  were  executed  by  a  pupil  according  to  the 
designs,  and  after  the  death,  of  the  master. 

How  well  this  art  of  Le  Lorrain  harmonized 


252 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


with  that  of  Robert  de  Cotte !  The  same  fa- 
cility, the  same  elegance,  the  same  spirit.  These 
two  Parisians  of  Paris  were  made  to  work  to- 
gether. 

The  successors  of  Armand  Gaston  de  Rohan,  — 
Frangois  Armand  de  Rohan-Soubise-Ventadour, 
Louis    Constantin    de  Rohan-Guemenee-Mont- 

r 

bazon,  and  Louis  Edouard  de  Rohan-Guemenee,  — 
dwelt  in  the  episcopal  palace  whenever  they  came 
to  Strasburg.  They  did  not  come  there  very 
often.  When  they  were  in  Alsace  they  preferred 
Saverne,  which,  with  its  gardens,  its  waters,  its 
hunt,  its  vast  stables,  and  its  numerous  apart- 
ments, was  better  fitted  for  court  life. 

The  last  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan,  the  Car- 
dinal of  the  affair  of  the  diamond  necklace,  sur- 
passed in  splendor  and  prodigality  all  the  prelates 
who  had  preceded  him  at  Strasburg.  He  over- 
whelmed the  Baroness  of  Oberkirch  by  the  luxury 
of  his  vestments,  the  magnificence  of  his  house- 
hold, the  charm  of  his  conversation;  and  the 
Memoirs  of  this  brilliant  woman  must  be  read  if 
we  desire  to  picture  the  life  of  other  days  in  the 
" grand  apartment"  of  the  chateau  of  Strasburg. 
"His  eminence  received  us  in  his  episcopal  palace, 
which  was  worthy  of  a  sovereign.  His  household 
expenses  were  ruinous  and  unbelievable.  I  will 
tell  only  one  thing,  which  will  give  an  idea  of  the 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  253 


rest.  He  had  no  less  than  fourteen  stewards  and 
twenty-five  valets  de  chambre.  Judge !  it  was 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  on  the  eve  of  the 
Octave  of  All  Saints ;  the  Cardinal  emerged  from 
his  chapel  in  a  cassock  of  scarlet  watered  silk, 
and  a  surplice  of  English  point  lace  of  incalculable 
value.  He  carried  in  his  hand  an  illuminated 
missal,  a  family  heirloom  of  unique  antiquity  and 
magnificence;  he  would  not  deign  to  carry  a 
printed  book.  He  came  to  us  with  a  gallantry 
and  politeness  of  the  highest  good  breeding,  which 
I  have  rarely  met  anywhere.  .  .  ."  And  how 
living  and  dramatic  are  the  scenes  in  which  the 
baroness  shows  us  the  empire  exercised  by  Cagli- 
ostro  over  the  credulous  Cardinal  in  this  very 
chateau  of  Strasburg. 

The  Cardinal  de  Rohan  protested  to  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  against  all  the  decrees  relative 
to  ecclesiastical  property,  then  crossed  the  Rhine 
and  took  refuge  at  Ettenheim.  On  August  8, 
1791,  the  chateau  was  sold  as  the  property  of  an 
emigre.  The  city  of  Strasburg  paid  129,000  livres 
for  it,  for  a  mayoralty.  But  the  furniture  re- 
mained in  the  apartments  for  two  years  longer. 
The  authorities  demanded  that  it  be  removed; 
they  wrote  to  the  district  administrators:  "As 
for  ourselves,  we  attach  no  value  to  sumptuous 
furnishings  which  contrast  with  republican  sim- 


254  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

plicity,  and  are  offensive  to  the  economy  which 
the  municipality  must  exercise  in  its  administra- 
tion." Nevertheless,  when  they  were  sold  the 
city  took  care  to  purchase  the  very  objects  which 
formed  the  decoration  of  the  palace :  the  mirrors, 
the  paintings,  the  tapestries,  the  antique  busts, 
the  Chinese  and  Japanese  vases,  the  bookcases  of 
the  library.  Unfortunately  the  Revolution  caused 
some  irreparable  damage.  The  portraits  of  the 
bishops  which  ornamented  one  of  the  apartments 
were  burned.  The  two  copper  angels  which  were 
over  the  great  windows  of  the  library  were  sent 
to  the  melting  pot.  The  escutcheon  of  Rohan 
carved  over  the  main  doorway  was  shattered.  It 
is  true  that  upon  the  entablature  of  this  same 
doorway  there  was  erected  on  the  Twelfth  of 
Fructidor  of  the  Year  II,  a  Liberty  by  Etienne 
Malade,  a  sculptor  of  Mayence. 

In  1806,  the  city  gave  the  chateau  to  the 
Emperor,  and  Napoleon  resided  in  this  imperial 
palace  on  his  return  from  Germany.  Festivals 
were  then  given  whose  programme  recalls  that  of 
the  fetes  formerly  given  in  honor  of  Louis  XV. 
Their  remembrance  has  been  preserved  by  a  series 
of  engravings  from  pencil  drawings  by  Zix,  which 
lack  neither  grace  nor  spirit.  One  of  them  repre- 
sents the  procession  of  the  guilds  of  Strasburg 
upon    the   terrace   above   the   111.  Napoleon 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  255 


has  replaced  Louis  XV  at  the  window  of  the 
chateau. 

In  1832,  the  palace,  first  episcopal,  later  im- 
perial, then  royal,  was  removed  from  the  civil 
list  and  returned  to  the  city,  which  again  got  rid 
of  it  under  the  Second  Empire  by  giving  it  to 
Napoleon  III.  From  1871  to  1895  it  housed  the 
University  Library,  whose  installation  was  the 
cause  of  serious  damage  to  the  ceilings  and  wain- 
scotings. 

At  present  the  first  floor  of  the  chateau  is 
occupied  by  the  Museum  of  Paintings  and  the 
Cabinet  of  Engravings.  As  to  the  grand  apart- 
ment of  the  cardinals,  the  only  one  whose  decora- 
tion is  precious,  it  is  used  for  various  exhibitions. 

A  part  of  the  chateau  has  been  invaded  by  the 
Department  of  Historic  Monuments,  which  uses 
it  for  offices  and  storehouses.  It  has  not  only 
filled  up  the  courtyard  with  Roman,  Merovingian, 
and  Carlovingian  remains,  which  make  the  most 
ludicrous  appearance  in  the  midst  of  buildings  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  but  it  has  invaded  the 
two  most  beautiful  halls  of  the  palace,  the  library 
and  the  chapel,  and  has  turned  them  into  a  store- 
house for  brick  and  old  stone,  and  one  must  say 
that  this  is  a  very  pleasing  way  of  furthering  the 
conservation  of  a  historic  monument. 

This  chateau  is  one  of  the  most  marvelous  and 


256 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


most  finished  examples  of  a  princely  residence 
built  in  the  midst  of  a  city,  without  the  decoration 
of  a  garden. 

The  door  which  opens  upon  the  square,  with 
its  leaves  of  sculptured  wood,  the  interior  gallery 
which  leads  to  the  two  pavilions,  the  form  of  the 
courtyard  and  its  fine  proportions,  the  noble 
fagade  of  the  palace  with  its  pediment  and  its 
two  allegorical  statues,  the  platforms  which,  at 
the  angles  of  the  courtyard,  give  access  to  the 
two  vestibules,  the  majestic  fagade  which  over- 
looks the  courtyard  facing  the  111,  the  very  choice 
of  materials,  the  gray  stone  of  the  principal  fa- 
gades  which  harmonizes  so  well  with  the  pink 
sandstone  used  in  the  other  parts  of  the  building, 
all  these  features  complete  an  incomparable  char- 
acter of  grandeur  and  perfection.  The  edifice  is 
almost  completely  preserved  in  its  essential  parts. 

But  what  desolation  when  we  enter  the  mag- 
nificent rooms  of  the  ground  floor !  The  work  of 
the  architect  remains  intact :  the  vestibule,  with 
its  softly  curved  lines,  the  great  hall  of  the  Synod, 
with  its  arcades,  the  long  series  of  salons,  the  ad- 
mirable library  communicating  with  the  chapel, 
this  whole  apartment  of  truly  royal  beauty  still 
makes  us  wonder,  in  spite  of  the  lamentable  condi- 
tion to  which  it  is  abandoned.  But  some  of  the 
carvings  are  shattered,  others  have  rotted,  the 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  257 


ceilings  are  dilapidated,  the  shutters  are  broken 
and  carry  traces  of  the  bombardment  of  Stras- 
burg,  the  wall  paintings  have  been  torn  down, 
and  whole  panels  of  the  wainscot  have  been 
destroyed ! 

Cardinal  Egon  de  Furstenberg  undertook  the 
construction  of  the  chateau  of  Saverne  from 
the  plans  of  an  Italian,  Thomas  Comacio.  His 
successor,  the  first  of  the  Cardinals  de  Rohan,  who 
built  the  chateau  of  Strasburg,  decided  to  complete 
the  edifice,  and  Le  Lorrain  worked  here  also.  He 
carved  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  grand  salon,  and  two 
sphinxes  larger  than  life,  "one  with  hair  dressed 
in  the  Greek  style  and  the  other  in  German 
style/ '  which  were  placed  on  either  side  of  the 
steps  leading  from  the  chateau  toward  the  garden. 
Of  these  sculptures,  as  of  the  palace  which  they 
ornamented,  nothing  remains.  The  chateau  of 
Saverne  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1779. 

We  have  only  an  engraving  to  show  us  the 
appearance  of  the  burned  chateau.  But  con- 
temporaries have  left  us  charming  relations  of  the 
life  led  by  the  guests  at  Saverne.  Let  us  first 
listen  to  the  Marquis  de  Valfons,  who  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Cardinal  in  1741.  The  immensity 
of  the  edifice  surprised  him  greatly,  for  it  con- 
tained seven  hundred  beds.    There  were  one 


258  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


hundred  and  eighty  horses  in  the  stables,  and 
"  carriages  at  will."  The  greatest  liberty  reigned 
in  the  chateau,  and  every  one  lived  there  just  as 
he  desired.  "With  such  a  master  of  the  house, 
all  is  happiness ;  so  the  temple  never  emptied, 
and  there  was  no  matron  or  maid  of  good  family 
who  did  not  dream  of  Saverne.  I  remarked  that 
everywhere  there  was  good  advice,  even  above  the 
doors,  where  there  was  as  a  legend  a  Latin  word, 
suadere,  which  means  persuade.  Every  one  paid 
heed  to  this  suggestion,  and  often  success  followed 
desire.  I  have  seen  the  most  wonderful  hunts 
there ;  six  hundred  peasants  arranged  in  line, 
forming  a  row  of  beaters  a  league  in  length,  cover- 
ing an  immense  territory  as  they  advanced,  scream- 
ing at  the  top  of  their  voices,  beating  the  woods  and 
the  shrubbery  with  poles." 

Do  these  not  suggest  little  pictures  composed 
by  Lancret,  to  be  placed  in  the  sinuous  frame  of  a 
Louis  XV  wood  carving  ? 

"They  made  three  battues  in  this  fashion  until 
one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  company, 
women  and  men,  gathered  under  a  beautiful  tent 
on  the  edge  of  a  stream,  in  some  delicious  spot ; 
there  was  served  an  exquisite  dinner,  seasoned 
with  much  gaiety;  and  as  it  was  necessary  that 
everybody  should  be  happy  there  were  tables 
placed  on  the  grass  for  all  the  peasants.  .  .  . 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan 


959 


When  they  had  rested  enough,  and  the  heat  had 
abated  a  little,  every  one  went  to  take  new  posi- 
tions and  the  battue  recommenced.  Every  one 
chose  his  own  spot  to  put  himself  on  watch,  and 
for  fear  that  the  ladies  should  be  frightened  if 
they  were  left  alone,  they  always  left  each  one 
of  them  with  the  gentleman  whom  she  hated  the 
least  to  reassure  her.  Every  one  was  imperatively 
ordered  not  to  leave  his  position  except  at  a  cer- 
tain signal,  in  order  to  avoid  accidents  from  gun- 
shots ;  everything  was  foreseen,  for  with  this  order, 
it  became  impossible  that  anyone  should  be  sur- 
prised. It  appeared  to  me  that  the  women  whom 
I  had  oftenest  heard  finding  fault  with  hunts,  liked 
this  one  very  much.  When  the  day  was  ended 
they  gave  good  pay  to  every  peasant,  who  only 
asked  to  have  the  chance  to  do  it  again,  as  did  the 
ladies." 

A  poet,  a  table  companion  of  the  bishop,  is 
going  to  introduce  us  to  the  intimacy  of  this  little 
court,  more  worldly  than  ecclesiastical.  This 
poet  is  the  Abbe  Grandidier,  who  was  later  the 
austere  historian  of  the  church  of  Strasburg  (Note 
28).  But  then  he  was  twenty  years  old.  They 
found  him,  at  Saverne,  "the  most  amiable,  the 
best  instructed  and  the  most  beautiful  of  men." 
All  the  women  doted  on  him :  the  Marquise  de 
Salle,  Christine  de  Saxe,  Abbess  of  Remiremont, 


260  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  Princess  de  Rohan-Rochefort,  for  whom  he 
rhymed  a  charming  fable,  a  certain  Madame  de 
P .  .  .  . ,  to  whom  was  addressed  this  gallant 
prayer : 

Indulgent  to  my  youth, 

You  praise  me  out  of  measure 
For  songs  my  lazy  muse 

Dictated  for  jTour  pleasure. 

You  wound  my  tender  soul 

By  flattering  my  vain  song, 
Yet  doubt  I  constant  am : 

Be  sure  I'll  love  you  long. 

I  seek  no  laurels  now ; 

I  love  with  twenty's  heat ; 
My  poems  are  but  my  plea : 

Enchain  me  at  thy  feet. 

Judge  my  weak  verse  with  scorn, 
But  crown  my  locks  with  may ; 

Let  Hymen's  myrtles  twined 
Conjoin  our  hearts  alway. 

Glory  is  scorned  by  youth ; 

Sans  love's  delights  'tis  poor ; 
Give  the  love-song  less  praise, 

But  give  love  to  your  wooer. 

And  Grandidier,  having  been  granted  the  favors 
which  he  asked,  thanked  her  in  this  quatrain : 

To  the  same  upon  a  kiss  which  she  had  given  to 
the  author,  after  the  reading  of  his  song. 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  261 


Alain  Chartier  slept,  as  the  books  tell  the  story, 
When  a  princess  gave  him  a  sweet  kiss  for  his  glory ; 
When  I  sang  you  a  song,  you  gave  me  a  sweeter, 
And  you  kept  me  awake  as  reward  for  my  meter. 

Madame  de  P.  .  .  .  was,  it  appears,  of  an  age 
which  rendered  this  frivolity  innocent.  We  can 
also,  for  the  same  reason,  see  only  a  poet's  fancy 
in  The  Reflections  of  a  Young  Antiquary,  addressed 
to  the  Countess  de  Brionne : 

Greek  maids  unveiled  their  charms  to  art, 
Which  Grecian  sculptors  modeled  fair, 

But  every  curve  of  those  sweet  frames 
Is  far  surpassed  by  yours  when  bare. 

So,  princess,  in  our  hours  of  love, 
When  pleasure  draws  me  to  your  arms, 

I  scorn  the  statues  of  the  past ; 
I  find  in  you  all  classic  charms. 

Is  it  not  true  that  the  very  sound  of  the  little 
verses  of  the  little  abbe  suffices  to  evoke  all  the 
gallant  images,  all  the  mythologies,  with  which 
the  painters  and  the  sculptors  of  the  Rohans 
adorned  the  gardens,  the  apartments,  and  the 
galleries  of  Saverne? 

After  the  Frenchman  de  Valfons  and  the  Al- 
satian Grandidier,  here  is  a  German. 

On  a  beautiful  summer  day  in  the  year  1770, 
three  young  students  who  had  taken  their  degrees 
at  the  University  of  Strasburg  conceived  the  idea 


262  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


of  visiting  Saverne.  Two  of  them  were  from 
Lower  Alsace,  and  the  third  from  Frankfort. 
Later  the  latter  thus  told  his  impressions : 

"With  two  of  my  associates,  my  good  friends 
Engelbach  and  Weyland,  both  sons  of  Lower 
Alsace,  I  rode  to  Saverne,  and  in  the  fine  weather 
which  we  had  this  gracious  little  town  smiled  on 
us  very  agreeably.  We  admired  the  aspect  of 
the  episcopal  chateau;  the  extent,  the  grandeur 
and  the  luxury  of  the  new  stable  witnessed  the 
owner's  wealth;  the  magnificence  of  the  stair- 
case surprised  us ;  we  passed  through  the  chambers 
and  the  halls  with  respect ;  but  the  personality  of 
the  Cardinal  made  a  strong  contrast :  he  was  a 
failing  little  old  man.  We  watched  him  dine. 
The  view  across  the  garden  is  superb,  and  a  canal 
three  quarters  of  a  league  in  length,  drawn  as 
straight  as  an  arrow  in  the  axis  of  the  building, 
gives  a  high  idea  of  the  intelligence  and  the  power 
of  the  ancient  masters.  We  walked  on  the  edge  of 
this  and  rode  through  several  parts  of  this  domain, 
which  is  well  situated  at  the  extremity  of  the  mag- 
nificent plain  of  Alsace,  at  the  foot  of  the  Vosges. 
After  we  had  observed  with  pleasure  this  ecclesi- 
astical advance-post  of  a  powerful  monarchy,  and 
strolled  at  leisure  in  the  surroundings,  the  next 
day  we  reached  .  .  . 

The  failing  little  old  man  was  Prince  Louis 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  263 


Constantin,  the  third  of  the  Cardinals  de  Rohan. 
The  young  student  who  strolled  through  the 
galleries  of  the  chateau  "with  respect/ '  and  was 
present  at  the  prelate's  dinner,  was  Goethe. 

After  the  fire  of  1779,  Cardinal  Louis  Edouard 
de  Rohan-Guemenee  had  a  new  edifice  built  by 
the  architect  Salins  de  Montfort.  This  exists  to- 
day, but  how  disfigured  ! 

The  work  was  not  quite  finished  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution.  On  June  10,  1790,  a  band  of 
six  hundred  peasants  invaded  the  gardens  of  the 
chateau  and  cut  down  the  ancient  trees.  Saverne, 
" formerly  the  den  of  the  Druid  Rohan/7  fell  into 
the  power  of  the  Jacobins ;  on  September  29,  1792, 
they  placed  an  effigy  of  Louis  XVI  upon  the  car- 
dinal's throne,  and  carried  it  through  all  the  streets 
of  the  town,  "to  the  great  displeasure  of  the  aris- 
tocrats, who  had  carefully  closed  their  windows 
and  who  were  doubtless  praying  fervently  for  the 
deliverance  of  the  prisoners  of  the  Temple."  In 
the  evening  the  town  was  illuminated,  and  there 
were  dances  and  feasting  (Note  29). 

The  Directory  of  the  Department  of  Bas-Rhin 
saved  the  Rohan  library  and  sent  to  Strasburg 
the  magnificent  volumes,  the  bindings  of  which, 
stamped  with  the  arms  of  the  cardinals,  bore  the 
inscription  :  Ex  bibliotheca  Tabernensi.  They  were 
destroyed  in  the  conflagration  of  the  Strasburg 


264  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


library,  lighted  August  24,  1870,  by  German 
bombs. 

During  the  Consulate  the  chateau  was  very 
much  dilapidated.  The  town  of  Saverne,  which 
had  acquired  it,  abandoned  it  to  the  Administra- 
tion of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  This  body,  instead 
of  repairing  it,  sold  the  copper,  lead,  and  tiles  from 
the  roofs.  The  edifice  became  a  ruin.  The  town 
again  claimed  proprietorship,  obtained  it,  and  made 
the  most  urgent  repairs.  The  old  palace  became 
a  market,  a  mayoralty,  a  barrack,  until  the  time 
when  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  converted  it  into  an 
asylum  for  widows  of  high  civil  and  military 
officials  who  had  died  in  the  service  of  the  state. 
The  fagades  were  rebuilt,  the  apartments  re- 
furnished. Since  1870  the  palace  has  again  be- 
come a  barrack. 

The  first  time  I  endeavored  to  visit  the  old 
chateau,  I  was  refused  admission.  Later  I  was 
more  fortunate.  I  was  allowed  to  visit  all  the 
floors,  and  was  able  to  convince  myself  that  there 
did  not  remain  a  trace  of  its  former  magnificence. 
One  can  no  longer  even  imagine  the  arrangement 
of  the  former  rooms ;  the  whole  internal  arrange- 
ment has  been  modified. 

Only  the  two  fagades  remain  as  they  were  built 
by  the  architect  Salins  de  Montfort.  The  fagade 
toward  the  village  has  been  disfigured  by  the 


The  Chateaux  of  the  Cardinals  of  Rohan  '  265 


addition  of  an  immense  and  disgraceful  wing ; 
the  roof  has  been  raised  a  story;  the  palace  is 
crowned  by  an  abominable  little  lantern  of  colored 
glass.  The  other  elevation,  toward  the  gardens, 
has  retained  all  its  majesty,  with  its  immense 
pilasters,  which  rise  from  the  ground  floor  to  the 
attic,  and  its  grand  peristyle,  sustained  by  Co- 
rinthian columns. 

The  Rohans  thus  gave  Alsace  two  superb 
models  of  French  architecture  applied  to  the 
construction  of  a  princely  residence. 


XIX 


CHURCHES  AND  ABBEYS 

THE  great  abbeys  of  Alsace  were  ruined 
by  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  They  had 
begun  to  rise  again  when  the  campaigns 
of  Louis  XIV  against  the  coalition  of  Europe 
again  upset  the  province.  It  was  only  after  the 
Peace  of  Ryswick  that  it  breathed  freely  again,  and 
the  monks  and  chapters  could  rebuild  their  con- 
vents and  their  churches.  Then  the  monasteries 
which  ten  centuries  previously  had  Christianized 
and  cleared  Alsace  flourished  again  :  Marmoutier, 
the  oldest  of  all,  Murbach,  Ebersmunster,  Andlau, 
Neuwiller,  Altorf,  Neubourg,  Niederhaslach,  and 
many  others. 

Some  of  the  monks  who  inhabited  these  convents 
in  the  eighteenth  century  were  indigenous,  while 
others  were  German  :  but  all  of  them  reconstructed 
their  churches  in  the  French  taste. 

At  Neuwiller,  they  rebuilt  the  tower ;  at  Altorf, 
the  choir  and  the  transept.  The  choirs  of  Nieder- 
haslach, of  Neubourg,  and  of  Marmoutier  received 
precious  wood-carvings.  Those  of  Marmoutier 
and  of  Neubourg,  of  which  I  have  spoken  else- 

266 


Churches  and  Abbeys  267 


where,  are  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  cele- 
brated. 

Alsace  possesses  also  some  complete  monuments 
of  the  religious  art  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
such  as  the  church  of  Ebersmunster,  the  Jesuit 
chapel  at  Colmar,  the  church  of  Guebwiller. 

Of  the  grand  monastery  of  Ebersmunster  there 
remain  only  a  few  insignificant  buildings.  But  the 
church  still  stands  with  its  three  towers.  The 
exterior  is  simple  and  quiet.  The  interior  with  its 
vaults  covered  with  frescos  and  its  vast  galleries, 
which  form  a  sort  of  terrace  over  the  low  side  aisles, 
presents  a  grand  and  somewhat  theatrical  aspect. 
The  different  parts  of  the  edifice  are  perfectly 
balanced.  The  altars  harmonize  well  with  the 
architecture.  As  to  the  paintings  on  the  ceilings 
of  the  nave,  cupola,  and  choir,  they  are  a  product 
of  the  rapid  and  facile  art  of  those  nomadic 
decorators  who  then  strolled  about  Europe, 
painting  now  a  church  and  again  a  princely  resi- 
dence. One  of  those  who  worked  at  Ebers- 
munster was  called  Mages,  and  painted  also  at 
Stuttgart  and  Augsburg.  Of  others  we  can 
barely  decipher  the  signatures,  and  that  is  all  we 
know  of  them.  In  such  edifices  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  dwell  on  the  details ;  but  the  whole 
interior  leaves  in  the  memory  a  sumptuous  and 
brilliant  picture. 


268  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


The  Jesuits  had  at  Colmar  a  celebrated  estab- 
lishment, which  is  today  the  Lyceum.  Its  chapel 
has  been  preserved.  Because  of  its  free  design, 
the  grace  and  suppleness  of  its  harmonious  curves, 
the  justness  of  its  proportions,  the  originality 
and  fineness  of  the  decoration  which  outlines  its 
arches  and  enframes  its  openings,  this  chapel  is 
one  of  the  most  delicate  and  most  finished  monu- 
ments which  the  eighteenth  century  has  left  us. 
In  the  nave,  on  a  gravestone,  may  be  read  a  Latin 
epitaph,  thus  translated  :  "I,  Jean  Jacques  Sarger 
of  Strasburg,  architect  of  this  temple,  rest  here 
where  I  have  never  rested.  Lord,  who  hast  given 
me  passing  repose  in  my  temple,  give  me  eternal 
rest  in  Thy  temple.  1752."  Who  was  this 
Sarger  ?  In  their  Memoirs  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the 
college  of  Colmar  related  that  M.  Sarger,  architect 
of  the  town,  volunteered  to  donate  the  plan  and 
direct  the  work  of  the  church  without  asking  any 
payment.  His  sole  object  was  to  become  famous 
and  to  render  service  to  the  Jesuits.  Each  year, 
nevertheless,  they  made  him  a  present  of  a  hundred 
livres.  They  even  once  gave  him  a  silver-gilt 
porringer  of  the  value  of  two  hundred  and  thirty 
livres,  after  which  they  required  of  him  a  discharge 
and  a  receipt,  "  a  precaution  which  has  been  judged 
necessary,"  adds  the  author  of  the  Memoirs, 
"  against  his  heirs,  having  been  attacked  by  the 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  OE  GUEBWILLER 


Churches  and  Abbeys  269 


heirs  of  less  important  benefactors."  According 
to  the  same  Memoirs  Sarger  probably  died  at 
Strasburg.  In  reality,  he  died  at  Colmar,  April 
9,  1752.  M.  Andre  Waltz,  the  learned  librarian  of 
Colmar,  showed  me  the  death  certificate,  which  he 
found  among  the  archives  of  the  town.  This  is  all 
that  we  know  of  Sarger.  We  do  not  know  whether 
he  constructed  any  other  monument.  It  is  at 
least  interesting  to  know  that  this  building, 
perhaps  the  more  perfect  specimen  of  eighteenth 
century  art  in  Alsace,  is  the  work  of  an  Alsatian 
architect. 

The  church  of  Guebwiller  belongs  to  a  quite 
different  style.  It  was  constructed  a  little  later 
by  the  Prince  Abbot  of  Murbach,  Casimir  de 
Rathsamhausen.  It  was  never  finished  and  has 
only  one  tower,  which  injures  the  appearance  of 
its  noble  classic  fagade.  But  its  colonnade  is  not 
devoid  of  elegance.  The  interior  is  singularly 
beautiful,  with  its  slender  columns,  its  graceful 
dome,  and  its  decoration  which  is  so  perfectly 
harmonious  that  we  perceive  in  all  the  details  the 
inspiration  of  the  architect  himself.  We  experi- 
ence the  impression,  so  rare  in  a  modern  building, 
of  feeling  that  everything  here  was  subordinated 
to  the  decision  of  the  " Master  of  the  Work." 
At  Guebwiller,  the  plans  were  at  first  drawn  up  by 
a  Bipontine  constructor  named  Denque.    But  he 


270  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


was  deprived  of  the  responsibility.  The  monu- 
ment was  taken  over  and  continued  by  an  Aus- 
trian, Gabriel  Ignatius  Hitter,  who  directed  the 
labors  and  conceived  the  idea  of  the  decorations. 
To  execute  the  sculpture  he  employed  a  family  of 
German  artists,  domiciled  at  Guebwiller,  the 
Sporrers.  The  father,  Fidel  Sporrer,  carved  the 
complicated,  tumultuous  and  charming  group  of 
the  Assumption  which  fills  the  back  of  the  choir ; 
the  son  Joseph,  the  two  high-reliefs  which  surround 
the  high  altar  ;  the  daughter  Helene,  the  wood- 
carvings  of  the  choir.  It  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
the  Greco-Roman  style  which  was  in  favor  at 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  we  can  dis- 
cover here  traces  of  a  Germanism  which  is  more 
accentuated  than  in  other  Alsatian  edifices. 


XX 


PUBLIC  FESTIVALS 

THE  chateaux  of  the  Rohans  and  the 
churches  of  the  abbeys  were  the  models 
which  familiarized  Alsatian  taste  with 
the  new  styles.  But  if  these  styles  became  so 
popular  that  even  today  they  give  their  char- 
acteristic aspect  to  most  Alsatian  towns,  we  must 
seek  the  reason  in  the  great  historic  events  which 
stirred  the  imagination  of  Alsace  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Louis  XV,  Marie  Leszczinska,  and  Marie  Antoi- 
nette traversed  Alsace.  The  fetes  which  were 
celebrated  as  they  passed  through  excited  the 
curiosity  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  multitude. 
The  sight  of  the  escorts,  the  costumes,  the  toilettes, 
the  carriages,  all  the  luxury  displayed  in  connection 
with  these  great  ceremonies,  inspired  among  the 
nobility  and  the  wealthy  citizens  the  desire  to  im- 
itate these  elegant  splendors ;  and  the  impression 
of  such  spectacles  was  the  deeper  because,  on 
these  occasions,  Alsace  did  not  assist  at  these 
magnificent  pomps  as  at  a  simple  amusement; 

271 


272  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


it  regarded  them  with  a  little  pride  and  a  little 
tenderness. 

When  King  Stanislas  and  his  daughter  Marie 
entered  Strasburg,  July  4,  1725,  saluted  by  salvos 
of  artillery  and  the  chiming  of  bells,  escorted  by 
the  musketeers  of  Parabere  and  Pardaillan,  when 
they  received  the  homage  of  the  magistrates, 
passed  between  ranks  of  soldiers,  and  listened  to 
the  compliments  of  Cardinal  de  Rohan,  surrounded 
by  his  clergy  and  all  the  officers  of  state,  it  was 
truly  the  denouement  of  a  fairy  tale.  On  August 
15,  when  the  royal  carriages  crossed  the  city 
through  streets  hung  with  garlands,  when,  to 
the  sound  of  the  drums,  timbals  and  trumpets  of 
the  bodyguard,  dressed  in  silver  brocade  trimmed 
with  silver  lace  and  sown  with  roses  and  artificial 
flowers,  Marie  Leszczinska  entered  the  cathedral 
of  Strasburg  to  become  the  wife  of  the  King  of 
France,  the  people  of  Alsace  who  crowded  into  the 
squares  contemplated  with  joyous  emotion  this 
extraordinary  scene,  as  if  they  had  themselves 
given  this  Queen  to  their  King.  For  every  person 
in  this  crowd  knew  the  sorrowful  story  of  the  Polish 
exiles,  their  cramped  and  silent  life  in  the  little 
house  at  Wissembourg  where  they  existed  on  the 
alms  of  France,  their  hopes,  their  fears,  their 
anxieties,  the  good-fellowship  of  Stanislas,  a 
great  dreamer  and  a  great  pipe-smoker,  the  sweet 


Public  Festivals 


273 


and  compassionate  disposition  of  Marie,  the 
nobly  concealed  distress  of  the  unfortunate  family. 
And  this  strange  adventure,  which  at  Paris  excited 
the  raillery  of  libelers,  moved  and  enchanted 
Alsace. 

Nineteen  years  later  France  celebrated  the  con- 
valescence of  Louis  XV.  Everywhere,  in  all  the 
towns,  in  all  the  villages,  the  population  delivered 
itself  to  great  rejoicings.  When  the  King,  after 
leaving  Metz  and  passing  through  Luneville, 
turned  toward  Alsace,  whence  he  was  going  to  the 
siege  of  Fribourg,  the  people  of  Strasburg  showed 
the  most  touching  lightheartedness.  They  re- 
membered the  fetes  by  which,  nineteen  years 
previously,  Strasburg  had  welcomed  the  exile  of 
Wissembourg,  who  had  become  Queen  of  France. 
And  what  perhaps  redoubled  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  crowd,  was  the  widely  spread  news  of  the 
reconciliation  of  the  King  and  Queen.  The 
public  was  still  ignorant  of  the  revenge  which 
Richelieu  and  Madame  de  Chateauroux  had 
already  taken. 

The  rejoicings  lasted  five  days.  They  were 
reproduced  in  a  series  of  charming  engravings  by 
the  Alsatian  artist  Weis.  Thanks  to  these  en- 
gravings, so  lively  and  spirited,  we  can  take  part 
in  the  transports  of  the  crowd,  the  illuminations 
and  the  fireworks,  the  parades  of  the  guilds  and 


274 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  sports  of  the  population,  and  as  the  chateau 
where  the  King  was  staying  was  the  center  of  the 
rejoicings,  we  are  shown  all  the  aspects  of  the 
edifice. 

These  fine  compositions  are  accompanied  by  a 
story  of  the  fetes,  which  Weis  framed  in  deliciously 
fanciful  designs,  in  a  style  quite  like  that  of  the 
ornaments  which  decorate  the  halls  of  the  chateau 
of  the  Rohans.  The  text  of  this  story  is  written 
in  a  pure,  spirituelle  and  ceremonious  language. 
The  architecture  of  Robert  de  Cotte,  the  sculpture 
of  Le  Lorrain,  the  engravings  of  Weis,  the  prose 
of  the  nameless  narrator,  all  breathe  the  same 
nobility,  the  same  elegance,  and  the  same  spirit. 

The  news  of  the  convalescence  of  the  King  had 
already  brought  mirth  to  the  people.  Amidst  the 
roar  of  artillery  and  musketry,  a  Te  Deum  was 
sung  in  the  cathedral.  Bread  and  meat  were  dis- 
tributed to  the  crowd.  The  fountains  ran  wine. 
The  Cardinal  gave  a  festival  in  his  chateau  whose 
"brilliance  and  sumptuousness  corresponded  to 
the  magnificence  of  the  place  and  the  dignity  of 
the  master." 

There  was  a  supper  at  the  house  of  the  Inten- 
dant,  and  a  display  of  fireworks  before  the  house 
of  the  royal  Pretor.  ...  On  October  5  the  King 
himself  reached  Strasburg. 

The  whole  population  of  the  city  put  on  military 


Public  Festivals  275 


costumes  to  form  an  escort  for  the  sovereign.  The 
young  men  of  the  town  enrolled  themselves  in  a 
company  dressed  as  Swiss,  "in  a  uniform  of  blue 
camlet,  decorated  on  every  seam  with  red  and 
white  silk  ribbons,  with  the  strawberry,  the  hal- 
berd, the  plumed  hat  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Swiss 
costume, "  and  another  company  of  hussars, 
"  dressed  in  scarlet,  with  buttons  and  trimmings  of 
silver."  The  elite  of  the  burghers  were  divided 
into  four  squadrons  of  cavalry  and  three  battalions 
of  infantry.  (I  have  abridged  the  long  and  minute 
description  of  the  costumes  ;  but  I  note  in  passing 
that  this  fashion  of  " playing  soldier"  is  signifi- 
cant and  reveals  to  us  the  military  temperament 
of  Alsace.)  "Each  corps  of  infantry  and  cavalry 
had  a  flag  and  a  white  standard  sown  on  one  side 
with  golden  fleur-de-lis  and  having  embroidered 
on  the  other  a  representation  of  the  Virgin,  which 
is  the  ancient  standard  of  the  town  of  Strasburg, 
the  which  city  marched  at  the  head  of  the  free 
cities  of  the  Empire,  at  the  solemn  entries  which 
the  Emperors  made  into  Rome  in  olden  times.  .  .  . 
A  horse-drummer,  with  his  kettledrums  adorned 
with  flounces  of  crimson  damask  embroidered  in 
gold  with  the  arms  of  the  city,  and  heralds  dressed 
in  scarlet  laced  with  gold,  preceded  the  cavalry. 
Each  battalion  of  infantry  had  at  its  head  four 
hautboys  and  as  many  hunting  horns,  which  for 


276 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


the  three  battalions  made  twenty-four  musicians, 
of  whom  sixteen  wore  blue  coats  and  the  other 
eight  scarlet,  all  adorned  with  gold  braid. " 

The  Pretor,  at  the  head  of  the  troops  of  citizens, 
awaited  the  King  outside  of  the  gate  of  Saverne. 
He  presented  to  Louis  XV  three  keys  of  silver- 
gilt,  and  paid  him  a  compliment.  At  the  edge  of 
the  suburb  rose  an  arch  of  triumph,  laden  with 
allegories,  emblems,  devices,  and  magnificent 
Latin  inscriptions.  Beyond  this  had  been  built 
an  equestrian  statue  of  Louis  XV,  pyramids 
bearing  coats  of  arms  and  a  globe  wreathed  with 
laurel.  The  King  marched  toward  the  cathedral 
through  streets  strewn  with  sand  and  spread  with 
flowers,  between  houses  decorated  with  tapestry. 
Then  appeared  "eight  young  shepherds  and  eight 
shepherdesses,  chosen  from  the  most  beautiful 
and  well  built  youth  of  Strasburg.  They  were 
dressed  in  blue  suits,  ornamented  with  garlands 
of  flowers  and  pink  ribbons,  their  curled  hair  flying 
free,  and  their  crooks  painted  and  gilded.  .  .  . 
The  shepherdesses  carried  little  baskets,  very  prop- 
erly filled  with  all  kinds  of  flowers,  and  presented 
to  the  King  their  innocent  homage  under  the  sym- 
bol of  these  flowers,  which  they  offered  him  and 
which  they  strewed  before  his  feet." 

A  little  farther  on  were  "twenty-four  maidens 
of  fifteen  to  twenty,  from  the  most  distinguished 


Public  Festivals  277 


families  among  the  burghers,  dressed  in  superb 
materials,  according  to  the  different  German  styles 
of  Strasburg,  their  locks  braided  and  hanging  over 
their  shoulders ;  their  attire  was  rendered  more 
charming  by  their  grace  and  inborn  beauty.  They 
expressed  in  the  same  manner  their  devotion  and 
the  joy  of  the  people.  ...  A  like  number  of 
chosen  persons  of  the  same  sex,  dressed  in  the 
French  mode,  acquitted  themselves  of  the  same 
duties  a  hundred  paces  farther  on."  The  picture 
is  charming,  and  we  cannot  help  remarking  the 
adroit  and  politic  liberality  which  had  dictated 
the  choice  of  the  episodes  of  the  reception. 

The  King  prayed  at  the  cathedral,  and  then 
entered  the  episcopal  palace.  I  cannot  quote  here 
the  whole  story  of  the  fetes  and  rejoicings,  the 
merry  town,  the  amusements  of  the  people,  the 
illumination  of  the  cathedral,  lighted  with  firepots 
"which  seemed  to  have  turned  into  crystal  this 
marvelous  bit  of  architecture."  I  content  myself 
with  a  few  lines  drawn  from  the  astonishing  de- 
scription of  the  fireworks  on  the  111. 

After  all  the  allegorical  figures  arranged  on  the 
banks  and  on  the  water  had  been  lighted  by  sheaves 
of  fire,  Neptune  suddenly  appeared  armed  with  his 
trident,  in  a  car  drawn  by  two  sea  horses.  "The 
barbs  of  the  trident,  the  points  of  the  crown,  as 
well  as  the  eyes,  ears,  and  nostrils  of  the  horses 


278 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


spouted  a  thousand  different  fires.  The  car, 
whose  wheels  formed  revolving  suns,  advanced 
to  the  middle  of  the  basin  and  stopped  under  the 
King's  windows.  A  few  moments  later  the  whole 
machine  exploded  with  a  terrific  detonation, 
filling  the  air  with  such  a  prodigious  quantity  of 
rockets,  serpents,  and  other  fireworks,  that  the 
spectators  were  for  some  time  divided  between 
fear  and  admiration.  These  fireworks,  which 
lasted  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  were  set 
off  with  surprising  promptness  to  the  sound  of 
kettledrums,  trumpets,  and  all  sorts  of  musical 
instruments,  placed  at  the  extremities  of  the 
basin  on  two  painted  music  stands,  formed  like 
ships,  illuminated,  covered  with  streamers  and 
garlands,  with  the  arms  of  France  above." 

The  splendor  of  the  fetes  given  on  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage  of  Marie  Antoinette  is  well 
known.  Strasburg  received  with  transports  of 
joy  this  German  princess  who  came  to  be  united 
with  the  Dauphin  of  France.  On  one  of  the  islands 
in  the  Rhine  had  been  erected  a  pretty  one-story 
pavilion,  with  an  Italian  terrace,  where  Marie 
Antoinette  was  to  meet  Count  de  Noailles,  the 
King's  ambassador.  This  pavilion  was  composed 
of  five  rooms ;  the  Austrian  antechamber,  the 
Austrian  salon,  in  the  center  the  "  salon  of  de- 
livery," then  the  French  salon  and  the  French 


PORTRAIT  OF  GOETHE 


Public  Festivals  279 


antechamber.  The  Dauphiness  entered  the  Aus- 
trian apartment ;  she  there  took  off  all  her  clothes 
down  to  her  stockings,  and  was  dressed  in  the 
new  clothes  sent  by  the  King  of  France.  Then, 
after  stopping  in  the  delivery  chamber,  and  passing 
through  the  French  apartment,  she  entered 
Strasburg  in  the  midst  of  acclamations,  speeches, 
dances  and  illuminations. 

Goethe  described  these  festivities,  at  which  he 
was  present.  He  has  related  how,  in  the  pavilion 
on  the  Rhine  island,  he  saw  certain  tapestries 
from  Raphael's  cartoons,  and  thus  learned  "to 
know  the  beautiful  and  the  perfect."  But  other 
tapestries  placed  in  the  central  salon  of  this  same 
pavilion  filled  him  with  indignation.  They  por- 
trayed the  story  of  Jason  and  Medea.  Goethe 
thought  it  was  very  bad  taste  to  place  under  the 
eyes  of  Marie  Antoinette  the  picture  of  the  most 
horrible  marriage  that  was  ever  celebrated.  "It 
is,"  he  cried,  "as  if  they  had  sent  to  the  frontier, 
to  greet  this  beautiful  and  lively  princess,  the 
most  frightful  phantom!"  His  comrades  feared 
a  scandal,  and  had  to  drag  him  from  the  pavilion. 
"After  which,"  adds  Goethe,  "they  assured  me 
that  nobody  was  going  to  look  for  a  meaning  in 
the  pictures ;  that  as  for  themselves  they  would 
never  have  dreamed  of  it,  and  that  the  whole 
population  of  Strasburg  and  its  surroundings,  no 


280  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


matter  what  its  affluence,  nor  even  the  Queen 
herself  and  her  court,  would  have  such  visions." 
Without  criticising  Goethe,  his  comrades  were 
right :  the  subject  of  the  tapestry  is  of  less  im- 
portance than  the  beauty  of  its  coloring.  It  is 
also  well  to  note  that  Truth  and  Poetry,  from  which 
these  lines  were  taken,  was  not  written  until  1810. 
Remembrance  of  the  Revolutionary  tragedy 
perhaps  then  induced  Goethe  to  exaggerate  his 
indignation  and  his  presentiment  of  1770. 


PORTRAIT    OF    MARIE  ANTOINETTE 


XXI 

THE  CITIES  OF  ALSACE 

INITIATE  in  French  art,  Alsace  rebuilt  its 
cities  during  the  eighteenth  century  in  the 
French  taste.  New  hotels  and  mansions 
decorated  the  old  streets  with  their  elegant  facades. 
(Sometimes  from  economy,  or  perhaps  as  a  pious 
concession  to  old  customs,  the  arrangement  of 
the  old  houses  was  retained  behind  the  modern 
facade,  and  from  this  resulted  a  strange  discord- 
ance between  the  outside  appearance  and  that  of 
the  interior.) 

We  are  generally  ignorant  of  the  names  of  the 
authors  of  these  charming  constructions.  Parisian 
architects  crossed  Alsace  on  their  way  to  Ger- 
many, where  every  petty  princelet  desired  to 
possess  his  own  Versailles.  In  passing  through 
they  furnished  plans  either  to  the  cities  or  to 
private  individuals,  leaving  the  task  of  carrying 
out  their  designs  to  Alsatian  contractors,  such  as 
Massol,  who  superintended  the  works  of  the 
chateau  of  Strasburg  and  of  the  sacristy  of  the 
cathedral.    Others  set  up  in  business  at  Strasburg, 

281 


282  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


like  that  Chevalier  d'Isnard  who  is  responsible 
for  several  beautiful  houses  in  the  style  of  Louis 
XVI.  There  were  also  architects  of  Alsatian 
origin.  I  have  already  cited  the  name  of  Sarger 
who  built  the  Jesuit  chapel  at  Colmar.  The  two 
handsomest  houses  of  the  Grande  Place  of  Hague- 
nau,  the  Landweg  house  and  that  of  the  civil 
hospital,  were  constructed  by  Georges  Barth, 
deputy  registrar  of  the  town.  The  building  of  the 
former  Sovereign  Council  of  Alsace  at  Colmar  is 
the  work  of  an  engineer  named  Chassin.  But  how 
many  graceful  structures  have  remained  anony- 
mous at  Wissembourg,  at  Haguenau,  at  Mulhouse, 
at  Strasburg !  At  that  time  the  architect  was  the 
most  modest  of  artists. 

At  Strasburg,  especially,  was  developed  the 
luxury  of  building.  Of  3,600  houses,  1,520  were 
rebuilt  or  transformed.  Every  great  abbey  of 
Alsace  desired  to  own  a  hotel  in  the  capital  of  the 
province;  such  were  the  Hotels  of  Neuwiller, 
of  Ettenheimmunster,  of  Andlau,  of  Marmoutier 
(recently  restored  in  a  discreet  and  intelligent 
manner).  Each  German  prince  desired  to  have 
his  house  at  Strasburg ;  such  are  the  admirable 
Hotel  de  Hanau,  which  serves  today  as  the 
mayoralty,  the  Hotel  des  Deux-Ponts,  the  Hotel 
de  Saxe.  Finally  private  owners  erected  in  all 
parts  of  the  city  those  pretty  homes  which  are 


The  Cities  of  Alsace  283 


the  charm  of  the  streets  of  Strasburg.  Even 
today,  in  spite  of  the  transformation  of  certain 
quarters,  in  spite  of  the  absurd  and  the  colossal 
buildings  which  have  been  erected  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  houses  of  the  eighteenth  century,  this 
fine  architecture  is  the  chief  factor  of  the  sober 
beauty  of  Strasburg,  and  I  must  admit  that  I  was 
stupefied  when  I  read  in  Taine's  Carnets  de  Voyage 
this  sally  regarding  Strasburg:  " Somewhat  dull: 
a  complete  lack  of  elegance ;  it  is  a  city  of  people 
who  have  no  need  of  fineness  and  luxury." 

In  1764,  a  complete  transformation  of  the  city 
was  debated.  The  royal  pretor  Gayot  begged  the 
Due  de  Choiseul  to  send  him  an  architect  capable 
of  modernizing  the  plan  and  the  aspect  of  Stras- 
burg. Such  vast  enterprises  were  then  pleasing 
to  royal  intendants.  Gayot  —  Goethe,  not  with- 
out reason,  made  fun  of  his  great  projects  —  de- 
sired to  eliminate  the  narrow  and  tortuous  streets 
of  the  old  city,  and  construct  a  new  checkerboard 
town.  The  Duke  sent  him  Blondel,  who  was  a 
sworn  enemy  of  the  curved  lines  and  picturesque 
architecture  which  had  been  the  fashion  for  fifty 
years  and  who  wished  to  restore  art  to  antique 
simplicity.  He  dreamed  only  of  demolishing  and 
straightening.  Fortunately  the  acquisition  of 
the  properties  offered  difficulty.  The  conservative 
and  practical  minds  of  the  Alsatians  rebelled 


284  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


against  this  sudden  and  costly  derangement. 
BlondePs  plan  was  not  executed.  The  Aubette 
and  three  scattered  houses  are  all  that  remain 
today  of  Gayot's  grand  projects. 

In  these  notes  I  have  spoken  especially  of  archi- 
tecture. To  complete  the  picture  I  would  like  to 
show  how  the  French  style  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  applied  to  Alsatian  porcelain,  in  which  the 
Hannongs  joined  the  most  simple,  the  most  natural 
and  the  least  conventional  decoration  to  the  most 
contorted  forms  of  outline ;  to  the  decoration  of 
stuffs  which,  during  the  second  half  of  the  cen- 
tury, founded  the  glory  and  wealth  of  Mulhouse ; 
to  the  ironwork  which  ornamented  the  balconies, 
the  windows,  and  the  imposts  with  light  grilles 
which  are  miracles  of  taste  and  grace  ;  to  the  wood- 
carving  which  produced  so  many  charming  works : 
the  choir  of  Marmoutier,  the  choir  of  Saint  Peter 
the  Less  (miserably  painted),  the  sacristy  of  the 
cathedral  of  Strasburg,  but  whose  masterpiece 
is  perhaps  the  reception  hall  of  the  Chapter  of 
Noble  Ladies  of  Massevaux,  transported  today 
to  the  historical  museum  of  Mulhouse.  I  would 
like  also  to  show  how  these  styles  were  applied 
to  the  furniture  and  household  utensils,  penetrat- 
ing even  into  the  country  districts,  where  they 
modified  the  peasants'  houses.    I  would  like, 


The  Cities  of  Alsace 


285 


finally,  to  enumerate  the  excellent  portrait  painters 
and  the  remarkable  engravers  born  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  on  Alsatian  soil.  .  .  . 

But  as  I  must  confine  myself  to  the  monuments 
I  have  mentioned,  I  may  be  asked  if  there  was  not 
in  the  Alsatian  taste  of  the  eighteenth  century 
some  characteristic  originality.  Let  us  try  to 
define  the  Alsatian  touch. 

In  the  first  place,  Alsace  is  a  country  of  very 
ancient  civilization.  Its  taste  was  refined  long 
ago ;  its  artistic  culture  does  not  date  from  yester- 
day. It  was  the  great  route  from  Italy  to 
Flanders.  As  early  as  the  period  of  the  Renais- 
sance it  was  able  with  singular  delicacy  to  har- 
monize lessons  which  came  to  it  from  the  north 
with  those  which  it  received  from  the  south.  Its 
genius  was  a  compound  of  experience,  good  sense, 
and  moderation.  The  style  of  Louis  XV  might 
lead  to  grotesque  extravagance :  the  Baroque 
style  of  the  German  churches  and  palaces  fully 
proves  it.  The  style  of  Louis  XVI  might  de- 
generate into  a  gloomy  coldness.  Alsace  knew 
how  to  avoid  the  two  dangers. 

It  did  not  plunge  headforemost  into  new 
fashions.  It  followed  them  with  prudence.  In 
the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
style  erroneously  called  Louis  XV  appeared  at 
Versailles  and  at  Paris :  the  carvings  of  the  choir 


286  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


of  Notre  Dame  which,  with  their  volutes,  their 
shells,  and  their  flowery  branches,  are  perfect,  if 
early,  examples  of  the  new  decoration,  were  exe- 
cuted from  1669  to  1714.  Nothing  similar  is 
found  in  Alsace  before  1725.  The  civil  hospital 
of  Strasburg  was  built  between  1718  and  1724 
by  Mollinger,  an  Alsatian  architect ;  it  is  pure 
architecture  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Later, 
when  Parisian  artists  were  already  reacting  against 
the  abuse  of  curved  lines  in  construction,  deco- 
ration, and  furniture,  when  the  discovery  of 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  the  travels  of  Caylus, 
and  the  influence  of  Winckelmann  were  bringing 
them  back  to  the  simplicity  of  antique  forms, 
Alsace  still  held  to  the  old  styles.  It  was  com- 
mencing to  adopt  the  style  of  Louis  XVI  when  the 
Revolution  broke  out.  We  can  make  similar 
statements  of  other  French  provinces.  But  no- 
where is  this  retardation  as  pronounced  as  in  Alsace. 

Alsace,  besides,  never  confined  itself  to  a  slavish 
imitation  of  French  models.  Even  in  the  Middle 
Ages  it  had  manifested  its  artistic  originality. 
When  the  Gothic  style  crossed  the  Vosges  from 
France,  when  it  created  the  cathedral  of  Strasburg, 
Saint  Thiebaut  at  Thann,  Saint  Peter  and  Saint 
Paul  at  Wissembourg,  Saint  George  at  Schlestadt, 
the  Alsatian  Gothic  was  different  from  the  Gothic 
of  the  Rhine  provinces  and  the  Gothic  of  the 


The  Cities  of  Alsace 


287 


Isle  of  France.  And  these  differences,  which  are 
many  times  repeated,  would  be  worth  special 
study.  At  Colmar,  at  Riquewihr,  at  Ensisheim, 
the  exquisite  buildings  of  the  Alsatian  Renaissance 
present  in  their  externals  and  their  ornamentation 
a  character  of  restraint  and  sobriety  which  forbids 
us  to  confuse  them  with  the  purely  Germanic 
constructions  put  up  at  the  same  period  in  south 
Germany.  In  the  eighteenth  century  Alsace 
still  put  its  imprint  upon  the  styles  which  it 
imported. 

In  the  first  place  it  imposed  its  materials  upon 
the  architect.  Until  then  the  sandstone  of  the 
Vosges  had  been  used  only  to  build  churches  or 
fortresses.  From  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  mansions  and  chateaux  were  con- 
structed of  this  magnificent  stone  whose  pink  tones 
contrast  with  so  much  vigor  with  the  blue  of  the 
sky  and  the  verdure  of  the  landscapes ;  this  gives 
Alsatian  architecture  its  color  and  accent. 

Then  the  forms  of  the  antique  art  of  Alsace 
suggest  to  foreign  builders  picturesque  details  of 
which  they  would  never  have  dreamed  of  their 
own  accord.  We  noticed  on  the  side  wall  of  the 
chateau  of  Strasburg  unexpected  corbeling,  a 
reminiscence  of  those  charming  oriels  projected 
from  the  fagades  of  the  Renaissance  houses 
(Note  30). 


288  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


In  addition,  the  very  spirit  of  the  people  inspired 
the  artists.  For  Alsace  there  was  a  little  too  much 
solemnity  in  an  art  which,  even  in  its  most  delicate 
caprices,  always  seemed  to  recall  that  it  was  born  in 
Versailles.  In  walking  through  Wissembourg, 
where  whole  streets  were  rebuilt  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  we  are  struck  by  the  softness  of  the  little 
fagades,  by  the  familiar,  almost  popular,  accent 
of  the  sculptures,  and  we  admire  the  good  fellow- 
ship with  which  these  burghers,  devoid  of  ostenta- 
tion, managed  to  accommodate  the  fancies  of 
fashion  to  the  adornment  of  their  good  city. 

Finally,  —  this  is  its  eminent  virtue,  —  Alsace 
respects  its  past  and  loves  its  traditions.  It  can 
therefore  adopt  a  new  art  without  ceasing  to  be 
faithful  to  the  old  art.  In  the  eighteenth  century 
it  gave  a  rare  example  of  taste  and  wisdom.  It 
tolerated  everything ;  it  did  not  destroy  the  monu- 
ments which  had  been  left  it  by  the  Middle 
Ages  or  the  Renaissance  and  which  had  been 
spared  throughout  the  fury  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War. 

During  this  period,  in  France  and  especially  at 
Paris,  every  new  masterpiece  cost  the  life  of  an 
old  masterpiece.  The  builders  dealt  only  with 
secondhand  materials.  This  was  the  time  when 
they  "  degothicised "  the  old  churches.  Alsace 
never  approved  of  such  vandalism. 


The  Cities  of  Alsace 


289 


They  are  restoring  the  Romanesque  church  of 
Andlau;  but  they  take  care  not  to  change  its 
original  external  appearance.  They  rebuilt  the 
choir  of  the  church  of  Marmoutier,  but  with  pointed 
arches ;  and,  though  this  Gothic  was  not  admi- 
rable, the  intention  was  doubtless  pious.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were 
discussions  about  modernizing  the  cathedral  of 
Strasburg;  in  1682  the  architect  Heckeler  de- 
stroyed the  rood  loft,  and  in  1685  he  erected  in  the 
midst  of  the  choir  a  high  altar  of  Baroque  style 
under  an  enormous  baldachin  sustained  by  four 
groups  of  columns  and  surmounted  by  the  royal 
crown  among  garlands  and  unrestful  statues ;  in 
1761  Massol  destroyed  this  altar,  when  he  con- 
structed a  new  choir  of  wood  and  plaster.  But 
these  various  works  made  the  Strasburgers  in- 
dignant, and  the  chapter  always  opposed  them 
with  all  its  might.  In  1772  the  mean  booths  which 
surrounded  the  cathedral  were  removed ;  but  a 
master-mason,  Jean  Georges  Goetz,  constructed 
eighteen  new  ones  on  a  uniform  plan,  with  Gothic 
vaulting ;  and  also,  faithful  to  the  traditions  of  the 
image-makers  of  the  Middle  Ages,  executed  the 
amusing  gargoyles  which  may  still  be  seen  near 
the  clock  doorway,  in  which  he  caricatured  the 
bewigged  heads  of  some  of  the  burghers  of  Stras- 
burg, his  contemporaries. 


290  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


This  is  what  I  call  the  Alsatian  touch. 

The  art  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  Alsace  is 
indeed  French  art,  but  received  with  prudence, 
treated  with  moderation,  and  reconciled  with  the 
respect  due  to  the  past. 

This  conquest  of  Alsatian  taste  was  the  first 
chapter  in  the  history  of  the  attachment  of  the 
province  to  France.  The  Revolution  and  the 
Empire  completed  the  work  commenced  under 
the  ancien  regime  by  the  Rohans,  the  abbeys,  and 
the  French  artists.  The  Revolution  satisfied  the 
liberal  instincts  of  the  people,  more  free  than  any 
other  in  Europe  from  monarchical  sentiment,  as 
the  Germans  today  perceive  and  complain.  The 
German  Empire  offered  the  Alsatians  the  oppor- 
tunity of  putting  at  the  service  of  their  country 
those  military  virtues  of  which,  in  1874,  Bismarck 
boasted  in  a  famous  speech  to  the  Reichstag : 
"  Alsace  furnished  to  the  French  for  their  wars  — 
and  this  is  a  testimonial  of  honor  —  the  best 
soldiers,  and  especially  the  best  non-commis- 
sioned officers.  .  .  And  Bismarck  said  noth- 
ing of  the  great  generals,  such  as  Kleber,  Rapp, 
Lefevre. 

Thus,  first  art,  then  liberty,  and  finally  war 
fused  the  destinies  of  Alsace  with  those  of  France. 
The  accord  was  sealed  thrice.  Since  1871  every- 
thing which  was  within  the  power  of  men  to  anni- 


The  Cities  of  Alsace 


291 


hilate  has  been  broken.  But  the  first  witnesses 
of  the  ancient  compact,  the  monuments  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  still  exist.  Hence  they  merit 
a  little  more  than  our  admiration. 


XXII 

UNCHANGING  ALSACE 

IN  telling  of  my  rambles  through  Alsace  and 
of  its  history,  my  first  object  has  been  to 
inspire  in  some  of  my  readers  the  desire  to 
know  a  province  which  offers  such  admirable 
monuments  and  such  pathetic  memories.  But  I 
have  tried  also  to  show  by  some  examples  how, 
from  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick  to  that  of  Frankfort, 
Alsace  had  little  by  little  fused  with  the  French 
fatherland,  how  the  art  and  taste  of  our  eighteenth 
century  had  stamped  with  their  imprint  its  monu- 
ments, its  dwellings,  and  its  manners,  how  the 
Revolution  had  satisfied  its  old  democratic  in- 
stincts, how  the  wars  of  the  Empire  had  given 
opportunities  for  its  military  tastes.  I  have 
particularly  insisted  upon  the  first  of  the  three 
influences  which  have  had  their  effect  upon  Alsace  : 
it  was,  until  now,  that  which  has  been  least  studied 
by  the  historians,  and  remains,  if  not  the  most 
important,  at  least  that  which  is  most  openly 
revealed  to  the  casual  eye.  Finally,  the  observa- 
tions which  I  have  made  and  the  information 

292 


Unchanging  Alsace  293 


which  I  have  collected  in  my  travels  have  allowed 
me  to  perceive  the  bond  which  nothing  has  broken, 
which  nothing  will  break,  and  by  which  the  Alsace 
of  today  is  joined  to  its  past.  I  would  like  to 
complete  these  notes  by  summarizing  the  events 
which  have  happened  in  these  latter  years  and 
which  justify  what  I  wrote  seven  years  ago, 
after  my  first  journey  in  Alsace:  "The  hearts 
have  not  changed." 

If  a  new  constitution  were  given  to  Alsace- 
Lorraine  tomorrow,  it  would  modify  neither  the 
sentiment  nor  the  attitude  of  the  Alsatians.  They 
claim  an  autonomy  which  Germany  believes  it 
cannot  allow  them  without  endangering  its  own 
safety.  Bismarck  considered  Alsace  as  a  glacis 
which  the  Germans  must  be  able  to  defend  before 
the  French  can  attack  the  Rhine.  Even  in 
absolute  peace  military  territories  are  subject  to 
special  regulations.  The  unfortunate  Alsatians 
know  only  too  well  what  heavy  servitude  weighs 
upon  their  province,  because  of  the  "  exigencies  of 
national  defence."  They  are  not  deceived  by  the 
promises  lavished  upon  them.  Under  a  new 
government  they  would  continue  to  suffer  from 
the  fluctuations  of  the  double  policy  which  governs 
their  affairs,  and  would  know  alternately  the 
rigor  of  the  Empire  and  the  favors  of  the  Emperor. 


294  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


Alsace  is  the  plaything  of  a  game  played 
between  Prussia,  or  rather  the  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern,  and  the  Federal  States.  Reichsland, 
that  is,  imperial  territory,  it  is  administered  by 
and  for  the  Empire.  But  for  a  long  time  the 
King  of  Prussia  seems  to  have  wished  that  this 
rich  and  magnificent  province  should  be  ome  an 
appanage  of  his  family.  This  is  the  secret  of  the 
treatment,  sometimes  severe,  sometimes  more 
liberal,  which  is  applied  to  Alsace.  The  province 
is  pitilessly  sacrificed  whenever  its  interests  con- 
flict with  those  of  one  of  the  states  of  the  Empire : 
it  is  always  injured  in  the  laying  of  taxes;  the 
Germans  have  refused  to  build  for  it  a  canal 
parallel  to  the  Rhine;  its  interests  are  sacrificed 
to  those  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden  in  the 
project  which  will  soon  be  realized  of  construct- 
ing barrages  to  utilize  the  water  power  of  the 
Rhine.  .  .  . 

Quite  different  are  the  personal  politics  of  Wil- 
helm  II.  Doubtless  in  the  case  of  an  important 
matter  concerning  the  German  states,  such  as  the 
creation  of  a  canal  parallel  to  the  Rhine,  or  in- 
volving German  chauvinism,  such  as  the  teaching 
of  French,  the  Emperor  refrains  from  interfering. 
Nevertheless,  on  many  occasions  he  has  tried  to 
make  the  Alsatians  understand  that  they  have  no 
better  friend  than  the  King  of  Prussia :  when  the 


HOHKOENIGSBOURG 

(Restored) 


Unchanging  Alsace  295 


town  of  Schlestadt  gave  him  Hohkoenigsbourg, 
he  promptly  canceled  the  regulation  establishing 
the  dictatorship,  and  the  imperial  decree  was 
signed  at  Hohkoenigsbourg ;  he  favors  the  Cath- 
olics by  giving  some  privilege  to  a  bishop  or  a 
monastery;  he  flatters  Alsatian  democracy 
by  making  advances  to  the  " civil  element" 
of  the  population ;  he  orders  that  the  souvenirs 
and  the  traditions  of  the  people  should  be  re- 
spected, and,  against  the  advice  of  his  officials, 
allows  the  Gallic  cock  to  flap  his  wings  on  the 
summit  of  the  Wissembourg  monument.  In 
short,  he  desires  to  make  himself  popular,  so  that 
some  day  public  sentiment  may  approve  of  his 
ambitions.  The  Alsatians  profit  by  this  without 
illusion  as  to  the  true  reason  for  these  slight  advan- 
tages, and,  among  themselves,  they  laugh  at  the 
man  who  tries  to  cajole  them.  Do  they  not  know 
that  their  destiny  will  always  be  settled  at  Berlin 
and  that  they  will  never  be  consulted?  Without 
earing  to  know  under  what  form  independence 
will  be  refused  them,  they  continue  the  work 
which  in  their  eyes  is  more  important  than  all 
else :  the  defence  of  their  nationality.  For  this 
they  count  only  on  their  hereditary  virtues  of 
energy  and  tenacity. 

All  the  barriers  which  were  erected  between 
them  and  the  Germans  forty  years  ago  still  stand. 


296  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


What  I  wrote  in  1903  is  true  in  1910.  The  few 
renegades  who  were  willing  to  become  imperial 
officials  are  still  in  office.  Germany  has  paid  them 
well,  but  their  number  has  not  increased.  The 
annexed  and  the  immigrants  form  two  societies 
which  live  in  contact,  with  no  other  relations 
that  those  of  necessary  business.  The  men  meet 
each  other,  speak  to  each  other,  but  do  not  receive 
each  other  at  home.  The  women  neither  receive, 
nor  speak  to,  nor  see  each  other.  The  children 
play  with  each  other  at  school,  but  take  sides  when 
they  enter  the  university,  and  the  Alsatian  students 
form  associations  which  no  German  is  allowed  to 
join.  There  are  mixed  marriages  among  the  lower 
classes,  but  very  few  in  the  middle  classes,  and 
almost  all  those  who  take  part  in  such  marriages 
are  sent  to  Coventry. 

The  bourgeoisie  which  from  the  Revolution 
until  1870  was  responsible  for  the  growth  and 
wealth  of  Alsace,  that  rich  and  intelligent  class 
which  included  the  Protestant  theologians  of  the 
university  of  Strasburg,  the  jurists  of  the  court  of 
Colmar,  and  the  manufacturers  of  Mulhouse, 
were  decimated,  almost  annihilated,  by  the 
emigration  which  followed  annexation.  "When 
the  cession  to  Germany  was  an  accomplished 
fact,  the  exodus  toward  France  commenced  .  .  . 
instinctively,  for  nothing  else  could  be  done. 


Unchanging  Alsace  297 


What  the  emigration  has  cost  us  in  population 
must  be  figured  in  hundreds  of  thousands,  —  in 
money,  in  millions,  —  in  capacity  and  intelligence, 
it  escapes  all  calculation,  all  estimation,  and  is 
irreparable.  Even  today,  after  thirty-eight  years, 
this  drain  is  not  completely  finished  and  con- 
tinues to  impoverish  us."  Thus  expresses  him- 
self M.  Fritz  Kiener,  fellow  and  professor  of  the 
university  of  Strasburg,  in  a  masterly  study  of 
the  Alsatian  bourgeoisie  which  he  published  last 
year.  But,  if  we  can  believe  M.  Kiener,  and  no 
one  is  better  able  to  inform  us,  this  bourgeoisie  is 
beginning  to  recover.  This  is  how  he  justifies 
this  optimism:  "From  Wissembourg  to  Bisch- 
willer, "  he  says,  "the  movement  is  hardly  per- 
ceptible ;  in  this  section  the  bourgeoisie  is  still  too 
exhausted  by  the  loss  of  all  the  blood  which  it 
has  given  France.  At  Strasburg  it  is  a  little  more 
noticeable,  for  this  city  receives  accessions  from 
all  the  towns,  large  and  small.  .  .  .  The  prognos- 
tication becomes  more  favorable  when  we 
consider  Upper  Alsace.  There  the  factories 
have  retained  the  industrial  families  on  which 
rest  the  hope  of  our  country.  Mulhouse,  unfor- 
tunately, has  no  more  children;  it  has  given 
its  sons  to  France,  and  it  very  often  gives  its 
daughters  to  Swiss  immigrants.  We  see  with 
sadness  the  extinction  of  the  old  Mulhousian 


298  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


'fabricantocracy '  and  its  replacement  by  foreigners 
who  remain  foreigners  .  .  .  (Note  31).  The  part 
which  Mulhouse  must  play  in  our  national  life 
would  be  very  much  compromised  if  the  factories, 
through  becoming  the  property  of  stock  companies, 
no  longer  offered  to  capable  and  ambitious 
engineers  the  opportunity  to  obtain  managing 
positions.  It  is  the  Alsatians  who  profit  by  this 
movement.  These  successful  manufacturers  of 
the  present  day,  who  have  risen  from  the  midst 
of  the  hard-working  Alsatian  middle  class,  already 
try  to  reach  the  height  of  the  great  traditions  of 
Mulhouse,  and  this  fact  throws  a  brilliant  light  on 
our  future."  (Note  32.)  M.  Kiener  thus  does  not 
judge  impossible  the  uplifting  of  the  Alsatian 
bourgeoisie,  provided  that  it  retains  "its  class 
pride"  and  that  it  remains  faithful  to  "the  French 
culture  carefully  preserved  in  our  land  by  family 
tradition  and  also  instinctively  considered  as  the 
distinctive  culture  of  the  bourgeois  class."  Thus 
are  we  shown  the  formulas  on  which  young  Alsace 
has  founded  its  nationalism.  Now,  for  the  last 
ten  years,  not  only  in  the  bourgeoisie  but  also  in 
the  middle  classes,  these  maxims  have  sunk  so 
deeply  into  all  minds  that  today  we  cannot  con- 
sider chimerical  the  hopes  of  M.  Kiener. 

They  were  at  first  proposed  by  a  group  of  young 
men,  all  of  whom  were  born  after  1870  and  all  of 


Unchanging  Alsace  299 

whom  have  remained  faithful  to  the  land  of  their 
birth.  As  they  adapted  themselves  strictly  to 
the  necessities  of  Alsatian  life  (Note  33),  they 
have  been  successful.  Exact  and  fortunate  words 
were  found  to  clear  their  consciences,  to  define 
and  delimit  confused  dislikes  and  sympathies.  In 
this  way  class  lines  were  redrawn  and  party  divi- 
sions were  attenuated,  or  at  least  each  of  these 
parties  has  clearly  discovered  the  platform  upon 
which  all  Alsatians  can  unite.  A  few  young 
priests,  thirsty  for  notoriety,  and  some  intransi- 
geant  clerical  partisans  continue  to  exploit  the 
anti-religious  policy  of  the  French  government. 
But  the  great  trouble  into  which  the  spectacle  of 
the  activities  of  Combes  had  thrown  Catholic 
consciences  is  appeased. 

The  nationalist  idea  gave  a  new  accent  to  the 
deliberations  and  the  speeches  of  the  delegation 
from  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  inspired  Wetterle, 
Langel,  Preiss,  Pfleger,  Blumenthal,  to  bold  and 
decided  words.  .  .  .  These  manifestations  were 
apparently  useless,  for  the  delegation  has  only  a 
shadow  of  power;  but  they  resounded  through- 
out Alsace  and  gave  the  Alsatians  courage  to 
speak  more  freely,  to  act  more  boldly,  and  to 
insist  upon  the  right  of  being  themselves. 

To  the  heroic  protestation  of  the  twenty  years 
following  the  war  had  succeeded  a  dull  and  hesi- 


300  The  Spell  of  Alsace 

tating  opposition  without  a  guiding  idea.  And 
then  the  annexed  people  took  the  offensive. 

At  first  there  were  skirmishes.  Although  the 
dictatorship  was  abolished  in  fact  in  1902,  the 
officials  were  not  always  resigned  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  former  practices :  whenever  one  of 
them  exceeded  his  rights,  there  were  now  protests 
to  recall  him  to  respect  for  the  law.  In  their 
meetings  the  young  men  used  expressions  which 
the  police  generally  pretended  not  to  hear,  but 
which  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Pangermanists. 
To  the  affronts  which  they  lavished  on  the  Alsa- 
tians, the  Alsatians  replied  by  cruel  mockeries. 
Then  a  brilliant  artist,  Hansi  of  Colmar,  drew  those 
Vogesenbilder  whose  success  was  enormous  in 
Alsace  and  elsewhere,  biting  caricatures  in  which 
he  ridiculed  the  German  tourists  and  their  bottle- 
green  traveling  clothes.  It  was  he  also  who 
expressed  the  quiet  raillery  of  his  countrymen 
on  the  day  when  the  Emperor  came  to  dedicate 
the  bric-a-brac  of  the  Hohkoenigsbourg  amid  un- 
timely showers.  At  the  same  time,  in  order  to 
better  affirm  their  right  of  remembrance,  the 
Alsatians  multiplied  opportunities  for  celebrating 
the  glories  of  their  French  past  and  for  recalling 
the  sadness  of  the  defeat  which  had  delivered  them 
to  Germany.  This  was  the  meaning  of  the  monu- 
ment which  they  erected  last  year  to  the  memory  of 


) 


Unchanging  Alsace  301 

the  French  soldiers  who  died  on  the  battle  field 
of  Wissembourg.  The  speeches  made  on  the 
day  of  its  dedication  can  leave  no  doubt  on 
this  point. 

"The  history  of  a  people/'  said  Abbe"  Wetter  16, 
over  the  tomb  of  General  Abel  Douay,  "is  com- 
posed of  the  living  memory  of  all  its  glories.  Our 
province,  which  was  so  often  the  scene  of  heroic 
struggles,  has  an  unusually  troubled  history.  Un- 
der all  dominations,  it  has  known  how  to  remain 
itself,  it  has  given  itself  only  to  those  who  made 
an  effort  to  be  worthy  of  its  esteem  and  its 
affection.  It  preciously  guards  the  memory  of 
benefits  received,  and  will  never  permit  to  be  torn, 
effaced,  or  altered  one  of  the  pages  on  which  are 
inscribed  the  glorious  facts  of  its  past. 

"So,  without  giving  to  this  homage  a  character 
which  might  wound  or  offend  anybody,  it  wishes 
today  to  honor  its  dead,  and  renders  to  them  the 
tribute  of  its  admiration  and  its  gratitude. 

"This  is  the  right  and  the  honor  of  Alsace!" 

Do  we  not  hear  in  this  speech  an  echo  of  the 
discourse  which  Edouard  Teutsch,  deputy  from 
Saverne,  made  thirty-seven  years  ago  from  the 
tribune  of  the  Reichstag:  "Two  centuries  of  life 
and  thought  in  common  create  between  the 
members  of  a  single  family  a  sacred  bond  which 


302  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


no  argument,  and  still  less  violence,  could  de- 
stroy !" 

To  tell  the  truth,  neither  the  raillery  of  the 
bourgeoisie,  nor  the  satire  of  the  caricaturists, 
nor  the  piety  of  the  Alsatians  in  regard  to  their 
ancient  fatherland,  has  had  much  effect  on  the 
masters  of  Alsace.  Whether  they  were  thick- 
skinned,  or  whether  German  pride  forbade  them 
to  show  their  displeasure,  they  paid  no  attention 
to  these  pin-pricks.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were 
themselves  too  much  imbued  with  military  spirit 
to  disapprove  of  the  homage  rendered  to  soldiers 
who  had  fallen  on  the  field  of  battle.  But  within 
the  last  two  years  the  question  of  " double  culture' ' 
has  suddenly  become  restricted  and  narrowed 
to  become  a  question  of  the  French  language. 
The  Germans  showed  themselves  intractable  on 
this  new  ground,  and  their  adversaries  then 
entered  upon  a  struggle  which  shows  no  sign  of 
ending. 

I  will  merely  recall  the  first  episode  of  this. 
In  1908,  on  a  motion  of  M.  Kubler,  the  delegation 
of  Alsace-Lorraine  almost  unanimously  demanded 
that  French  should  be  taught  in  all  the  primary 
schools  of  Alsace.  Soon  afterward  the  interdiction 
of  a  representation  of  Les  Plaideurs  at  Strasburg 
aroused  public  opinion  and  clearly  showed  the  ill- 
will  of  the  government.    In  March,  1909,  the 


Unchanging  Alsace  303 


delegation  questioned  the  president  of  the  ministry 
as  to  the  action  which  the  government  intended 
to  take  on  Kubler's  motion.  M.  Zorn  von  Bulach 
replied  in  the  most  evasive  manner.  A  new- 
motion  was  proposed  by  M.  Back  to  the  effect 
that  French  should  at  least  be  taught  in  the 
localities  where  the  municipal  councils  should 
decide  it  was  useful.  The  delegation  returned  to 
the  question  in  May,  and  the  government  opposed 
it  with  new  excuses :  it  was  impossible  to  authorize 
the  teaching  of  French  in  the  primary  schools; 
the  government,  however,  would  go  on  record  as 
favorable  to  private  instruction  in  this  language 
outside  of  the  schools.  .  .  .  But  meantime, 
there  was  an  outburst  of  polemics.  A  professor 
of  the  university  of  Strasburg  and  two  officials 
of  the  department  of  education  published  a 
manifesto  entitled  Gegen  die  Verwelschung 
(Against  the  Partisans  of  the  French  Language). 
M.  Gneisse,  director  of  the  Lyceum  of  Colmar, 
wrote  for  the  Strasburger  Post  indignant  articles 
against  the  motions  of  the  delegation.  The 
caricaturist  Hansi  published  in  the  Journal  de 
Colmar,  edited  by  the  Abbe  Wetterle,  a  caricature 
which  M.  Gneisse  decided  to  recognize  as  himself. 
M.  Gneisse  prosecuted  Hansi,  who  was  fined  500 
marks :  then  he  prosecuted  M.  Wetterl6,  who 
was  sentenced  to  two  months'  imprisonment. 


304  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


And  the  battle  continued  among  the  journals 
and  among  the  public,  the  more  bitterly  because 
in  this  affair  it  was  not  a  question  for  the  Germans 
merely  of  pursuing  their  enterprise  of  Germani- 
zation,  and  for  the  Alsatians  of  defending  their 
nationality.  To  the  aid  of  the  officials  hastened 
all  the  philologists  of  Germany,  jealous  for  the 
predominance  of  Germanic  idioms,  while  the 
Alsatians,  who  are  practical  business  men,  made  it 
evident  how  profitable  it  was  to  them  to  know 
both  languages. 

If  we  wish  to  know  the  reasons  on  account  of 
which,  after  forty  years  of  German  domination, 
Alsace  persists  in  demanding  that  they  should 
return  its  privilege  of  using  French,  we  would  do 
well  to  read  the  admirable  plea  in  favor  of  French 
recently  published  by  M.  Eccard,  a  Strasburg 
lawyer. 

Until  the  Revolution  —  to  summarize  M.  Ec- 
card's  argument  —  the  French  language  had 
penetrated  only  the  upper  strata  of  society,  but, 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  after  Napoleon  had  re- 
organized education  in  the  secondary  schools  and 
universities,  it  commenced  to  make  progress 
among  the  middle  classes.  Toward  1840,  and 
especially  after  the  Revolution  of  1848,  every 
Alsatian  with  the  least  intellectual  culture  usually 
employed  French  in  his  conversation  and  his 


Unchanging  Alsace  305 


correspondence.  The  progress  was  even  so  sur- 
prising that  in  certain  circles  there  was  a  fear 
lest  all  knowledge  of  the  German  language 
should  be  lost,  a  very  legitimate  movement  which 
corresponds  to  the  present  "movement  in  favor  of 
French. "  Until  1830  the  common  people  were 
ignorant  of  French;  but,  under  Louis  Philippe, 
normal  schools  for  teachers  were  instituted  and 
both  languages  were  taught  in  the  primary 
schools,  so  that  in  1870  the  number  of  peasants, 
laborers,  and  artisans  who  spoke  French  and  were 
proud  of  it  was  very  considerable. 

To  this  policy  of  France,  so  prudent  and  so 
respectful  toward  the  national  traditions,  let  us 
contrast  the  brutal  manner  in  which  Germany  has 
acted  since  the  annexation.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  extirpate  French,  and  "  everybody  who 
is  not  blinded  by  political  passions  unites  in 
deploring  this  system,  unworthy  of  a  civilized  and 
cultured  nation  like  Germany."  The  French 
language  was  forbidden  in  the  popular  schools, 
and  reduced  to  the  necessary  minimum  in  normal 
schools  for  teachers.  It  was  allowed  a  small 
place  in  the  secondary  schools,  but  there  it  was 
taught  by  unsatisfactory  teachers,  and  like  a 
dead  language,  for  four  hours  a  week  in  the  lower 
classes,  and  only  two  hours  in  the  upper  classes. 
A  pupil  who  has  studied  French  only  in  school  is 


306 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


unable  to  speak  it,  and  he  is  completely  ignorant 
of  the  spirit  of  the  language. 

The  systematic  persecution  of  French  has  not 
changed  the  habits  of  the  upper  bourgeoisie ; 
but  in  the  country,  and  among  the  working  classes, 
the  population  no  longer  knows  French  (Note  34) . 
The  shopkeepers  and  the  artisans,  especially  in  the 
Haut-Rhin,  endeavor  to  preserve  and  even  to  in- 
crease their  knowledge.  The  territory  which 
French  seems  to  have  lost  has,  however,  not  been 
gained  by  High  German.  This  retreat  has  prof- 
ited only  the  patois.  Now,  the  mentality  of  a 
people  is  not  elevated  by  the  general  usage  of  a 
popular  language.  The  Alsatian  patois  cannot  be 
an  element  of  high  culture.  It  was  French  which 
was  the  educator  of  Alsatian  thought  until  1870 ; 
it  is  to  this  language  that  the  Alsatians  owe  their 
evenness  of  thought,  their  gift  of  clear  and  precise 
conceptions,  and  the  refinement  of  their  manners. 

The  great  argument  of  the  Germanizers  has 
always  been  that  it  was  necessary  to  spare  the 
Alsatians  the  serious  inconvenience  of  being  a  bi- 
lingual people ;  according  to  them,  a  nation  where 
everybody  simultaneously  learns  two  languages  in 
childhood  is  condemned  to  intellectual  sterility; 
characters  are  floating  and  unstable ;  never  a  poet, 
a  thinker,  a  powerful  personality  can  be  born  on 
such  an  unstable  soil.    Nothing  is  more  false  than 


Unchanging  Alsace  307 


this  observation.  Without  doubt  a  people  whose 
historic  destiny  has  followed  a  straight  course, 
and  which  possesses  only  a  single  language  and  a 
single  culture  enjoys  great  privileges.  "But  these 
advantages  are  the  product  of  a  slow  and  con- 
stant evolution ;  they  are  not  acquired  by  sudden 
inoculations  which,  in  place  of  transforming  the 
organism,  offer  a  serious  risk  of  provoking  dan- 
gerous disturbances  in  it.  .  .  .  Alsace,  if  it 
allowed  itself  to  be  drawn  completely  within  the 
pale  of  one  of  the  two  civilizations  which  are 
struggling  for  its  domination,  would  never  assimi- 
late to  the  same  degree  as  the  Germans  or  the 
French  the  specific  qualities  which  distinguish 
these  two  races,  and  it  would  thus  risk  losing 
precisely  that  which  produces  its  originality,  that 
is  to  say,  its  traditional  role  of  an  intellectual  inter- 
mediary between  the  two  peoples."  As  to  pre- 
tending, as  do  the  Germanizers,  that  the  use  of 
two  languages  would  enfeeble  minds,  the  example 
of  the  past  in  Alsace  proves  the  contrary.  The 
Alsatians  who  led  the  armies  of  the  Republic 
and  of  the  Empire,  and  those  who  founded  the 
industries  of  their  country,  were  surely  of  bold 
and  strongly  individualized  natures. 

Besides,  what  culture  do  they  expect  to  impose 
on  Alsace?  Is  it  the  artistic  and  literary  taste 
of  the  German  Renaissance?    Is  it  the  spirit 


308  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


which  animated  the  great  thinkers  and  poets  of  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century?  No,  it  is 
the  spirit  of  modern  Germany.  This  has  grown 
under  the  rule  of  force ;  "its  dominating  spirit  has 
often  trammeled  the  flight  of  liberty  and  individual 
thought,  and  its  constant  endeavor  to  extend  as 
far  as  possible  its  military,  political,  and  economic 
power  has  left  it  no  time  for  refining  its  manners 
and  acquiring  that  taste,  that  balance,  that  mental 
equilibrium,  which  are  the  privileges  of  the  nations 
which  have  used  up  their  fiery  vitality  in  a  more 
distant  past." 

Here  the  plea  of  M.  Eccard  which,  do  not  for- 
get, is  intended  to  convince  Germans,  becomes 
singularly  skillful  and  impressive.  "The  Alsatian, 
independent  by  birth  and  somewhat  rebellious  by 
temperament,  revolts  at  the  idea  of  submitting 
to  constraint,  and  the  gifts  with  which  another 
would  endow  him  by  force  he  not  only  does  not 
accept  but  he  returns  to  the  maladroit  giver.  We 
do  not  wish  this  external  and  superficial  Ger- 
manism which  it  is  too  often  attempted  to  impose 
on  the  Alsatian  population,  but  we  wish  to  choose 
for  ourselves  whatever  is  noble,  elevated,  and 
grand  in  German  civilization.  For  this  we  must 
have  at  our  command  an  observatory  whence  we 
can  overlook  the  whole  of  German  culture  and  so 
discover  what  suits  us  and  pleases  us.    Now,  to 


Unchanging  Alsace  309 


reach  this  elevated  view  of  things,  it  is  not  sufficient 
that  we  should  be  fully  conscious  of  our  Alsatian 
particularism,  it  is  also  necessary  that  we  should 
understand  how  a  civilization  rivaling  that  of 
Germany  has  understood  the  problems  whose 
solution  every  great  people  seeks  in  history." 

And  to  the  Germans  who  affect  to  disdain  France 
without  knowing  her,  here  is  the  magnificent  reply 
of  the  Alsatian:  " Especially  as  to  the  language, 
we  frequently  hear  a  learned  criticism  made  of  it 
by  people  who  have  learned  it  only  grammatically 
and  who  would  not  be  capable  of  carrying  on  a 
conversation  in  it.  It  is  especially  reproached  as 
being  impoverished  and  as  lacking  sincerity. 
Impoverished,  the  tongue  of  Rabelais  and  of  Victor 
Hugo,  the  speech  which  has  been  molded  to  the 
most  diverse  literary  forms,  from  the  romances  of 
the  Table  Round  to  the  modern  decadents ! 
Without  sincerity,  the  language  of  Calvin  and  of 
Pascal,  of  Taine  and  of  Flaubert ! 

"If  diplomats  and  men  of  the  world  are  espe- 
cially fond  of  French  in  all  lands,  it  is  not,  as 
has  been  asserted,  because  it  permits  them  to 
conceal  their  thoughts  —  that  can  be  done  in 
any  language  —  but  because  it  is  more  beautiful, 
more  elegant,  and  more  luminous  than  its  rivals. 
There  is,  perhaps,  in  German  literature  a  greater 
depth  of  thought,  a  more  intimate  lyric  power ; 


310  The  Spell  of  Alsace 


this  depends  not  on  the  superiority  of  the 
language,  but  on  particular  dispositions  of 
German  genius.  German  is  richer  in  words  and 
more  flexible,  it  adapts  itself  easily  to  all  forms  of 
thought,  and  it  is  certain  that  it  is  much  easier 
to  translate  into  German  than  into  French,  but 
these  very  advantages  are  dangerous,  they  often 
lead  to  an  absence  of  clearness  and  precision, 
to  irresolution  and  obscurity  in  expression 
which  would  not  be  tolerated  in  French.  .  .  . 

"Let  them  cease  these  attacks  against  the 
French  language !  Let  them  discuss  France  from 
other  points  of  view  which  are  open  to  criticism, 
but  let  them  leave  intact  the  most  perfect  product 
of  its  genius !  The  French  language  has  become 
classic  since  the  century  of  Louis  XIV,  by  the  same 
title  as  sculpture  in  antiquity,  Gothic  architecture 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  Italian  painting  during  the 
Renaissance,  German  music  at  the  present  day. 
It  is  a  work  of  art  which  has  been  slowly  formed 
by  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  writers  of  genius, 
and  whose  development  still  continues. 

"Well,  we  are  not  willing  to  be  deprived  of  this 
treasure,  and  we  will  unite  all  our  forces  to  pre- 
serve it." 

The  treasure  is  in  safe  hands.  As  long  as 
there  is  an  Alsatian  capable  of  writing  such  a  page 
as  that  which  we  have  just  read,  no  one  will  be 


Unchanging  Alsace 


311 


able  to  say  that  the  French  language  is  a  foreign 
tongue  between  the  Vosges  and  the  Rhine.  This 
fine  argument  did  not  affect  the  German  officials, 
but  it  converted  many  Alsatians.  At  Strasburg, 
where  the  Germanic  element  is  the  most  numerous 
and  powerful,  French  is  again  honored  among  the 
lower  middle  class,  who  were  commencing  to 
forget  it ;  courses  and  lessons  have  been  organized ; 
clubs  have  been  formed  where  French  is  spoken, 
and  where  French  comedies  are  played ;  in  the 
evening  students  and  young  working  people  get 
together  to  talk  and  argue  in  French.  And  this 
example  is  already  followed  in  other  towns. 
Somewhat  nonplused,  the  government  watches 
silently  a  movement  which  baffles  all  its  politics 
but  against  which  it  is  helpless.  .  .  .  Thus  con- 
tinues the  work  of  Alsatian  nationalism.  .  .  . 

I  have  faithfully  related  what  I  have  seen,  what 
I  have  heard,  and  what  I  have  read.  A  French- 
man must  stop  there  when  it  is  a  question  of 
Alsatian  matters.  Criticism  and  judgment  are 
forbidden  him.  Our  duty  was  to  deliver  the 
Alsatians,  who  paid  our  ransom  with  their  liberty, 
and  we  have  not  fulfilled  it.  Being  debtors  who 
have  not  paid  our  debt,  let  us  have  the  modesty 
not  to  offer  advice  to  our  creditors.  Let  us  admire 
without  reserve  —  history  offers  no  more  beautiful 


The  Spell  of  Alsace 


spectacle  —  the  stubbornness  of  this  people  which 
arises  under  the  heel  of  the  conqueror  to  protect 
its  glory  and  its  heritage,  but  let  us  never  permit 
ourselves  to  discuss  the  object  nor  the  methods  of 
its  policy,  for  they  do  not  concern  us. 


THE  END 


NOTES 

Note  1.  Page  3.  The  deliberations  of  the  Municipal 
Council  of  Mulhouse  were  recorded  in  French  until  1875, 
in  both  languages  until  1887,  and  in  German  alone  since 
1887.  At  this  latter  date  Mulhouse  ceased  to  have  an 
elected  mayor  and  passed  under  the  administration  of  a 
professional  burgomaster. 

Note  2.  Page  5.  The  "Bunch  of  Grapes''  was  burned 
in  1873. 

Note  3.  Page  30.  Quoted  from  Dictionnaire  topo- 
graphique,  historique  et  statistique  du  Haut  et  du  Bas-Rhin, 
by  Baquol  (1865). 

Note  4.  Page  42.  Those  who  desire  to  consult  all  the 
literature  evoked  by  the  paintings  of  Schongauer  and  those 
of  Grunewald,  are  referred  to  the  excellent  Bibliographie  de 
la  ville  de  Colmar,  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  In- 
dustrial Society  of  Mulhouse  and  the  town  of  Colmar,  by 
M.  Andre  Waltz.  (Colmar,  1902,  Imprimerie  Jussy  et 
Cie.) 

Note  5.  Page  44.  These  curious  pages  written  in  Ger- 
man, in  a  manuscript  belonging  to  the  library  of  Colmar, 
have  been  translated  and  published  by  M.  Goutzwiller  at 
the  end  of  the  book. 

Note  6.  Page  55.  The  burgomaster  of  Riquewihr,  M. 
Birkel,  and  some  of  his  compatriots  have  founded  a  "  Society 
for  the  Preservation  of  the  Antiquities  of  Riquewihr." 

Note  7.  Page  63.  Mon  sejour  aupres  de  Voltaire,  by  his 
secretary  Comte  Alexandre  Collini  (Paris,  1807). 

Note  8.  Page  63.  M.  Heid,  in  a  lecture  which  he  de- 
livered at  Munster,  April  24,  1897,  drew  an  interesting  pic- 

313 


314 


Notes 


ture  of  the  sojourn  of  Voltaire  in  Alsace  (Bulletin  de  la  Societe 
des  Sciences,  Agriculture  et  Arts  de  la  Basse- Alsace,  Fascicule 
No.  8,  October,  1897). 

Note  9.  Page  71.  H.  Taine,  Derniers  Essais  de  critique 
et  d'histoire.  A  preliminary  sketch  of  this  beautiful  word- 
picture  of  the  forest  of  Sainte-Odile  will  be  found  in  Taine's 
Garnets  de  voyage. 

Note  10.  Page  72.  Die  Heidenmauer  von  St.  Odilien,  ihre 
prehistorischen  Steinbrucke  und  Besiedelungsreste,  by  Dr.  For- 
rer.  The  discoveries  of  Dr.  Forrer  have  been  summarized  by 
M.  Auguste  Thierry-Mieg,  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  in- 
dustrielle  de  Mulhouse,  July,  1901. 

Note  11.  Page  78.  Some  notes  on  the  chateau  of  Saverne 
will  be  found  in  the  sequel  (page  257). 

Note  12.  Page  90.  These  figures  are  taken  from  an 
official  publication  of  the  German  government,  the  Strass- 
burger  Correspondenz  (September  9,  1902). 

Note  13.  Page  92.  The  French  Society  for  the  Protec- 
tion of  Alsace-Lorrainers  (sitting  of  May  26,  1903)  has 
stated  that  at  the  last  summons  to  the  colors  (1902),  4,696 
persons  left  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  it  had  cognizance  only  of 
those  who  asked  its  assistance ;  the  actual  number  of  emi- 
grants was  very  much  greater. 

Note  14.  Page  92.  At  Strasburg,  where  the  total  popu- 
lation at  the  time  of  writing  was  150,000,  70,000  were  Ger- 
man immigrants. 

Note  15.  Page  93.  This  periodical  —  which  is  an  abso- 
lutely neutral  publication  —  reflects  the  whole  national  life 
of  Alsace.  The  rare  and  delicate  manner  in  which  it  is 
edited,  illustrated,  and  printed  suffice  to  demonstrate  that 
there  is  actually  an  " Alsatian"  taste,  and  that  this  is  not 
German  taste. 

Note  16.  Page  96.  Dr.  Anton  Nystrom,  U Alsace- 
Lorraine,  translated  from  the  Swedish.  Preface  by  Deputy 
A.  Millerand. 


Notes 


315 


Note  17.  Page  109.  No  one  has  told  it  so  prettily  as 
M.  de  Nolhac,  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  work  on  Marie 
Leszczynska. 

Note  18.  Page  110.  These  letters  to  the  Chevalier  de 
Vauchoux,  which  throw  much  light  on  the  psychology  of 
Stanislas  Leszczynski,  were  published  for  the  first  time  in 
the  work  of  M.  Henry  Gauthier-Villars :  Le  Manage  de 
Louis  XV  (one  volume,  published  by  Plon,  1900). 

Note  19.  Page  115.  M.  E.  Altorffer  has  published  in  the 
Strassburger  Post  of  October  2,  1910,  some  extracts  from  the 
journal  of  a  citizen  of  Wissembourg,  Jean  Christophe  Scherer, 
who  was  at  first  shoemaker,  later  hotelkeeper,  "At  the  sign 
of  the  Angel,"  and  who  died  in  1788.  It  has  seemed  to  me 
that  the  reader  would  see  with  pleasure  the  naive  souvenirs 
of  this  worthy  Alsatian  upon  the  sojourn  of  the  King  of 
Poland  at  Wissembourg,  and  the  marriage  of  Marie  Lesz- 
czynska. "This  King  Stanislas  was  a  very  good  lord,  very 
handsome,  and  tall  of  stature.  He  was  accustomed  to  sit 
upon  the  Salzbnick,  and  to  smoke  a  very  large  pipe.  He 
often  rode  horseback  to  go  hunting  with  the  officers.  The 
Princess,  his  daughter,  was  very  beautiful,  and  feared  God. 
He  resided  in  the  'German  House'  which  now  belongs  to 
M.  de  Weber.  Although  the  following  of  the  King's  house- 
hold, when  he  iived  within  our  walls,  was  very  small  and  very 
obscure,  the  grand  sun  of  France,  however,  rose  upon  this 
court  one  day  and  gave  it  back  its  full  splendor,  for,  in  1725, 
our  very  gracious  King,  Louis  XV,  chose  for  his  wife  the 
Princess  Marie,  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God.  This  caused 
great  pleasure  and  great  joy  in  the  town,  for  not  only  had 
we  then  the  honor  of  seeing  here  the  most  distinguished 
princes  of  France,  come  to  seek  out  the  amiable  Princess, 
but  there  also  arrived  among  us  the  embassies  of  numerous 
foreign  courts,  bringing  precious  gifts,  such  as  fine  horses. 
Everybody  went  to  court  to  pay  homage  to  Her  Royal  High- 
ness.  The  magistrate  of  Wissembourg,  the  judges,  the  clergy 


316 


Notes 


of  both  confessions,  came  to  present  her  their  congratulations. 
The  day  that  this  great  event  was  celebrated  a  Te  Deum  was 
sung  in  all  the  churches.  In  the  afternoon  they  distributed 
everywhere  to  the  poor  bread  and  wine,  and  wine  was  also 
given  to  the  cavaliers  of  the  garrison.  In  the  evening  they 
set  off  fireworks  in  the  market  place,  the  great  square,  and 
near  the  church  of  Saint  John.  There  was  an  illumination 
in  the  garden  of  the  '  German  House ' ;  the  Queen  threw 
silver  from  the  windows  and  gave  alms.  Everybody  wore 
the  yellow  livery  of  the  Queen;  the  cockades  of  the  hats 
and  the  harnesses  of  the  horses  were  of  this  color;  and  as 
there  were  not  enough  ribbons,  they  used  yellow  paper. 
For  several  days  nobody  worked,  and  the  whole  town  lived 
magnificently  and  joyously.  The  market  was  so  good  that 
a  muid  of  oats  brought  three  to  four  livres,  and  a  pound  of 
butter  five  sous.  In  those  days  we  had  not  yet  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  numerous  taxes  and  contributions  from 
which  we  unhappily  suffer  today.  At  the  moment  when  the 
Queen  departed  they  set  up  maypoles  all  the  way  from  her 
house  to  the  Haguenau  Gate.  Before  the  gate  the  school 
children  of  both  confessions  and  the  citizens  were  drawn  up 
in  review;  at  their  head  were  the  young  men  of  the  town, 
with  music  and  flags.  As  the  Queen  passed  by  in  her  car- 
riage she  looked  at  this  sight  with  satisfaction,  and  listened 
to  the  performance  of  her  favorite  march.  Full  of  joy,  she 
began  to  laugh  and  beat  her  breast.  That  evening  our  young 
people  amused  themselves  very  much.  But  the  court  had 
departed,  and  this  was  the  end  of  our  joy." 

Note  20.  Page  137.  Since  writing  the  above  I  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  a  very  interesting  study  by  M. 
Paul  Albert  Helmer,  on  the  Manufactures  d'armes  blanches 
d' Alsace.  (These  factories  were  established  at  Klingenthal, 
in  the  territory  of  Boersch.)  I  have  found  a  decision  of  the 
Grand  Chapter  of  Strasburg  (March  28,  1733),  submitting 
the  inhabitants  of  Klingenthal  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 


Notes 


317 


bailiff  of  Boersch;  "Conclusum  fuerit  satrapae  memorati  loci 
Boersch,  etc.  .  .  ."  The  appellation  was  therefore  conse- 
crated.   It  is  nevertheless  extraordinary. 

Note  21.  Page  144.  Since  then  the  profanation  has 
continued.  In  the  court  of  the  convent  they  have  built 
a  great  hotel,  whose  walls  covered  with  zinc  offend  the  sight 
from  as  far  as  one  can  see  the  summit  of  Sainte-Odile.  On 
the  terrace  the  restaurant  building  has  been  removed  to 
another  spot,  but  is  none  the  less  horrible.  And  I  say  noth- 
ing of  the  inscriptions  erected  on  all  sides  to  point  out  to  the 
pilgrims  the  chapels,  the  viewpoints,  and  so  forth.  The  Al- 
satians are  not  the  last  to  protest  against  these  abominations. 

Note  22.  Page  178.  Stendhal.  There  are,  upon  Alfieri, 
in  Rome,  Naples  and  Florence  (page  359),  several  pages  of 
rare  beauty,  which  Stendhal  says  that  he  had  translated 
from  the  notebooks  of  a  certain  Count  Neri. 

Note  23.    Page  193.    We  are  ignorant  what  this  office  was. 

Note  24.  Page  196.  On  Ferrette,  Delille  at  Luppach  and 
La  Marteliere,  I  have  consulted  and  put  to  use  a  very  in- 
teresting work  published  by  M.  L.  Manhart  in  the  Express  de 
Mulhouse  (1904-1905).  Under  the  guise  of  informal  descrip- 
tions it  is  a  series  of  precise  and  conscientious  essays  in  which 
the  author  has  presented  with  emotion  the  history  and  the 
legends  of  the  Sundgau.  M.  L.  Manhart  has  communicated 
to  me  the  curious  letter  of  La  Marteliere,  which  I  have  quoted, 
and  which  had  not  previously  been  published. 

Note  25.    Page  206.    Parts  II,  III,  and  IV,  of  1909 

Note  26.  Page  225.  In  an  essay  by  M.  F.  Dollinger, 
which  was  published  in  the  Revue  alsacienne  illustree  (1906), 
there  is  a  very  lively  portrait  of  the  Count  de  Leusse. 

Note  27.  Page  237.  I  must  add  that  some  very  interest- 
ing documents,  which  may  be  found  at  Strasburg,  in  the  de- 
partmental and  municipal  archives,  were  called  to  my  atten- 
tion by  M.  Seyboth,  the  curator  of  the  Strasburg  Museum, 
now  deceased,  and  by  his  assistant,  M.  lung. 


318 


Notes 


Note  28.  Page  259.  Grandidier  poete,  by  A.  M.  P.  In- 
gold  (Revue  alsacienne  illustree,  October,  1903). 

Note  29.  Page  263.  Courrier  de  Strasbourg,  October  1, 
1792.  I  borrow  this  detail,  as  well  as  many  others,  from  a 
very  interesting  compilation  by  Le  Roy  de  Sainte-Croix :  Les 
Quatre  Cardinaux  de  Rohan  en  Alsace. 

Note  30.  Page  287.  The  word  oriel  is  not  commonly 
employed  in  French,  as  I  know  and  regret.  I  heard  it  spoken 
for  the  first  time  by  Alsatians,  although  it  is,  I  believe,  of 
Norman  origin.  It  is  charming,  and  we  have  no  other  to 
designate  a  bay  window  carried  on  corbels  on  the  facade  of 
a  house.  Echauguette  implies  a  turret ;  breteche  is  a  term  of 
military  architecture.  In  the  vocabulary  of  the  modern 
French  architect  oriel  might  advantageously  replace  the 
odious  bow-window. 

Note  31.  Page  298.  I  have  previously  mentioned  the 
situation  of  the  industries  of  Mulhouse  (Page  16). 

Note  32.  Page  298.  Revue  alsacienne  illustree  (Nos.  II 
and  III,  1909),  translation  published  by  the  Journal  d' Alsace- 
Lorraine. 

Note  33.  Page  299.  We  have  tried  to  demonstrate  this 
in  the  chapter  "  Alsace  in  1903,"  and  in  that  in  which  we 
have  commented  on  the  romance  of  M.  Barres :  In  the 
Service  of  Germany. 

Note  34.  Page  306.  Of  the  dangers  which  menace 
Alsatian  nationality  there  is  none  more  serious.  The  gaps 
which  emigration  has  made  in  the  bourgeoisie  are  scarcely 
filled  by  men  coming  from  the  country,  who  have  come  up 
and  enriched  themselves  by  force  of  talent  and  energy.  Now 
it  is  certain  that  many  of  these  do  not  speak  French,  scarcely 
understand  it,  hesitate  to  speak  it,  and  often  prefer  to  give 
it  up  entirely  rather  than  be  made  fun  of  for  improper  ex- 
pression or  faults  of  pronunciation.  That  is  why,  in  the 
minds  of  so  many  Alsatians,  instruction  in  French  has  at 
present  become  the  capital  question. 


INDEX 


Aar  River,  xviii. 
Adolph  of  Nassau,  4. 
iEdui,  xii. 
Alans,  xiii. 

Albany,  Countess  of,  166-180. 
Albert,  M.  Henri,  196. 
Albigeois,  53. 
Alfieri,  166,  180. 
Allemanni,  xiv. 

Alsace  regarded  as  hostile  terri- 
tory, xxx. 

Alsatian  architecture,  285-291. 

Alsatian  art,  23. 

Alsatian  bourgeoisie,  296-298. 

Alsatian  character,  145-147. 

Alsatian  civilians  punished, 
xxxvii. 

Alsatian  deserters,  xxxv. 

Alsatian  insubordination,  xxxv. 

Alsatian  nationalism,  298-302. 

Alsatian  peasant  house,  120- 
125,  140. 

Alsatian  policy  of  Germany, 
293-295. 

Alsatian  popular  art,  123. 

Alsatian  taste,  285-291. 

Alsatian  tradition,  125-129, 
139. 


Altenberg,  216. 
Altkirch,  181. 
Altorf,  266. 
Ammerschwihr,  50. 
Andlau,  81,  266,  289. 
Annibal,     Charles  Bernard, 

Baron  of  Reisenbach,  98 
Anti-clerical  policy  of  France, 

95. 

Ariovistus,  xi,  xii,  132. 
Armagnacs,  76. 

Atticus,  Duke  of  Alsace,  xiv, 

76,  77. 
Attila,  xiii,  xiv. 

B 

Babet,  Voltaire's  cookmaid,  59. 
Back,  304. 

Baden,  Margrave  of,  214. 
Bale,  9. 

Bale,  Prince  Bishop  of,  62. 
Barkentien,  Feldwebel,  xxxi. 
Baroque  architecture,  198. 
Barres,  Maurice,  94. 
Barres,  Maurice,  In  the  Service 

of  Germany,  148-163. 
Barth,  Georges,  282. 
Bartholdi,  34. 
Bartman,  Charles,  137. 


319 


320  Index 


Bartman,    Francois  Joseph, 

135-137. 
Bavaria,  53 
Bayle.  Dictionary,  61. 
Bazin.  Rene,  Les  Oberle,  73-75, 

138. 

Beatus  Rhenanus.  64. 
Beck-Bernard.  Madame  Lin  a. 
179. 

Behr,  Marie  Odilie,  136. 
Belfort,  17. 
Belgium,  xxix. 
Benedictines.  137. 
Benque  of  Besancon,  2S. 
Bernard  of  Saxe- Weimar,  xxii. 
Berthold.  Bishop  of  Strasburg. 
34. 

Besancon,  xii,  xx. 
Biber.  ICS. 
Bied.  9. 

Biehler,  Jean  Baptiste,  xxxiii. 
Birckemvald.  S0-S2. 
Birkenfeld.  Prince  of.  243.  244. 
Bismarck,  xxxviii.  95.  290.  293. 
Blondel.  2S3. 
Bliicher.  226. 
Blumenthal.  299. 
Bode.  Baron  Auguste  de.  205- 
219. 

Bode.  Baroness  de.  205-219. 
Bodin.  Anne.  23S. 
Bodin.  Catherine,  238 
Boersch.  134-137,  139. 
Boffrand.  235,  239. 
Bologna.  174. 
Bonn,  238. 

Bourdon.  Sebastian,  223 
Bourg.  Marshal  du,  114. 
Bourtzwiller,  xxxiii. 


Bouxwiller.  186. 
Boxtel.  Capt.  de.  142. 
Briey  Basin,  xxix. 
Brionne.  Countess  de.  251 
Brou.  Marshal  de,  242-247. 
Bruat.  Admiral,  34. 
Bues^-iHer,  116.  US.  124,  125. 
Buhl.  30. 
Burgundians.  xiii. 
Burgundy,  xx.  xxi. 
Bussierre  family,  224,  225. 

C 

Cadet -Roussel.  50. 
Caesar,  Commentaries,  xi.  xii. 
Caffieri.  222. 
Cagliostro.  253. 
Capuchins.  62,  63,  137. 
Carlsruhe,  215. 

Casimir.    Jean,    Elector  and 

Count  Palatine.  5. 
Catherine.  Empress.  218. 
Celtic  population,  xiii. 
Chalons,  xiii.  23S. 
Chambord.  111. 
Charles  III.  Duke  of  Lorraine. 

xxix. 

Charles  the  Bold.  xv,  xix-xxi. 
Charles  the  Fat.  xv. 
Charles  the  Simple,  xvii. 
Charles  Eugene.  Duke  of  Wurt- 

emberg.  5S.  59. 
Charles    Theodore.  Palatine 

Elector,  57. 
Chartier.  Alain,  261. 
Chassin,  282. 
Chateaubriand,  32,  169. 
Chateauroux,  Madame  de,  273. 


Index 


321 


Choiseul,  Due  de,  283. 
Chronique  de  Senones,  132. 
Cistercians,  201,  204. 
Clarke,    Marshal,    Duke  of 

Feltre,  Count  of  Hunebourg, 

98. 

Clement  XII,  27. 

Clovis,  xiv. 

Coffini,  57,  59,  62. 

Colmar,  iii,  xii,  34-49,  50,  52, 

56,  58,  61,  62,  267,  269,  289. 
Cologne,   Archbishop  Elector 

of,  205,  207,  209,  213. 
Comacio,  Thomas,  257. 
Combes,  299. 

Committee  of  Public  Safety, 

188,  192. 
Compagnie  des  Indes,  9. 
Congress  of  Vienna,  xxvii. 
Conradin,  xvii. 
Cordes,  53. 

Cotte,  Fremin  de,  237. 
Cotte,  Robert  de,  236-252. 
Cuyp,  223. 

D 

Dalheim,  xxxiii. 
Dantzig,  20. 

D'Argenville,    Lives    of  the 

Famous  Architects,  238. 
David,  47. 

Decapolis,  xviii,  xxv,  xxvi. 

Delamaire,  235. 

Delille,   Abbe  Marie  Joseph 

Chenier  de,  187. 
Denis,  Madame,  63. 
Denque,  269. 

Desgrandchamps,  Philippe 
Xavier,  182-183,  186. 


Deux-Ponts,  107. 
Dietrich,  Louise  von,  224. 
Dollfus,  Jean,  13. 
Dollfus,  Jean  Henri,  8. 
Dollinger,  F.,  206. 
Dorsner,  Baron,  98. 
Douay,  General  Abel,  301. 
Drevet,  239. 
Dreyfus  affair,  94. 
Du  Phenix,  112. 
Dupont,  advocate  at  Colmar, 
58. 

Durer,  Albert,  42,  48. 

E 

Ebersmunster,  266,  267. 
Ebhardt,  Bodo,  67. 
Eccard,  304. 
Edict  of  Nantes,  9. 
Eguisheim,  165,  166. 
Ehn  River,  76,  137. 
Elsasshausen,  220. 
Emigration  from  Alsace,  91-92. 
Engelbach,  262. 
English  companies,  76. 
Ensisheim,  18. 
Ernest,  Father,  62. 
Erwin  of  Steinbach,  28. 
Eschgriesler,  30. 
Etienne  and  Martainville,  191. 
Ettendorf,  116,  118,  119. 
Ettenheim,  253. 
Ettich,  xiv,  xviii. 

F 

Fabre,  172,  174. 
Ferdinand,  Emperor,  xxiii. 


322 


Index 


Ferdinand  Charles,  Archduke, 

xxiii,  xxv. 
Ferrette,  180-196. 
Ferrette,  County  of,  xix,  xx,  xxi. 
Feudal  System,  xvi. 
Fichter,  Valerie,  xxxvii. 
Fischer,  Captain,  xxxi. 
Flach,  Jacques,  Le  Chevalier 

de  Rosemont,  138. 
Flanders,  53. 

Fleckenstein,  Barony  of,  205, 
211. 

Florence,  170,  171. 
Florival,  30,  33. 
Fontaines,  Madame  de,  60. 
Francis  of  Lorraine,  223. 
Franconis,  54. 
Frankfort,  57,  238. 
Frederick  of  Dietrich,  224. 
Frederick  the  Great,  57,  60,  61. 
French    language  agitation, 

304-311. 
French   language   in  Alsace, 

89-90. 
Fribourg,  273. 
Froeschwiller,  220. 
Fulda,  206. 

Furstenberg,    Cardinal  Egon 
de,  235,  257. 

G 

Galle,  138. 

Gamshart,  Oswald  de,  12. 
Gayot,  283. 

German   cruelties  in  Alsace, 

xxxi,  xxxii,  xxxiv. 
German  invasions  of  Alsace, 

xii,  xiii. 


Glehn,  M.  de,  15. 
Gneisse,  303. 

Goethe,  71,  72,  195,  261-263, 

279-280,  283. 
Goetz,  Jean  Georges,  289. 
Goll  family,  58. 
Gotha,  Duchess  of,  57. 
Gothic  architecture,  3,  39,  76, 

79, 97, 105, 199, 200, 286, 289. 
Gouraud,  General,  xii. 
Goutzwiller,  Charles,  44. 
Grandidier,  Abbe,  259-261. 
Greco-Roman  architecture,  28, 

29. 

Grien,  Hans  Baldung,  42. 
Grimaldi  family,  184. 
Grunewald,  Mathias,  41,  42, 
44. 

Guebwiller,  26,  27,  267,  269, 
270. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  xxii. 
Gyss,  Canon,  77. 

H 

Habichtsburg,  xviii. 
Haguenau,  197-204,  282 
Hanau,  Count  of,  246. 
Hanau-Lichtenberg,  118 
Hannongs,  284. 
Hansi,  300,  303. 
Hapsburg  family,  xvii. 
Hartmannsweilerkopf,  xxx. 
Haussmann,  Baron,  34. 
Haut-Rhin,  35,  46. 
Heckeler,  289. 

Helmer,    Paul    Albert,  xxx, 

xxxiv. 
Henner,  40. 


Index 


323 


Henry  II  of  France,  xxix. 
Henry  the  Fowler,  xvii. 
Herrenstein,  Castle  of,  97. 
Hesse-Darmstadt,   Prince  of, 
119. 

Hildebrand,  sculptor,  84. 
History  of  the  French  Theatre, 

The,  191. 
Hoche,  216. 
Hohenburg,  149. 
Hohenstauffen  family,  xvii. 
Hohkoenigsbourg,   Castle  of, 

66-69,  295. 
Hohlandsberg,  Lord  of,  50. 
Holbein,  Hans,  52,  77. 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  xxii. 
Honorius,  xiii. 
Horbourg,  Castle  of,  59. 
Hugh,  Duke  of  Alsace,  xv. 
Huguenin,  Mantz  et  Cie.,  7. 
Huguenin,  Paul,  Jr.,  7. 
Humbret,  Maistres,  39. 
Huns,  xiii. 

I 

111  River,  181,  251,  254. 
Ingersheim,  Nicolas  Jacques  d', 
80. 

Institute,  French,  190. 
Isenbourg,  Castle  of,  20. 
Isnard,  Chevalier  d',  282. 
Issenheim,  21,  41,  44,  45,  46, 

47,  48. 
Issenheim  altar,  44-48. 

J 

Jablonowska,  Anne,  108. 
Jaegly,  Theophile,  xxxviii. 


Jelensperger,  Daniel,  7. 

Jemmapes,  215. 

Jesuit  architecture,  28. 

Jesuits,  59,  61,  62,  268. 

John  of  Dietrich,  223,  224,  227. 

Jude,  186. 

Julius  II,  12. 

K 

Kaiserslautern,  216. 
Karpff,  alias  Casimir,  46,  47. 
Kaysersberg,  50,  52. 
Keller,  H.,  92. 
Kiener,  Fritz,  297,  298. 
Kinnersley,    Mary,  Baroness 

de  Bode,  205-219. 
Kleber,  General,  xiii,  35,  95, 

290. 

Klingenthal,  76. 
Koechlin,  Samuel,  8. 
Koechlin,  Schmaltzer  et  Cie., 
9. 

Kroust,  Father,  62. 

Kubler,  302. 

Kuneyel,  Fritsch,  xxxiii. 

L 

Labre,  Benoit,  186. 

La  Fere,  Siege  of,  6. 

La  Grange,  Marquis  de,  231. 

Lalance,  M.,  15. 

La   Marteliere,   Jean  Henri, 

190-196. 
Lambyrin,  133. 
Lancret,  258. 
Landau,  xxv. 
Langel,  299. 


324 


Index 


La  Rochelle,  237. 

Lassurance,  239. 

La  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Henri 

Oswald  de,  246. 
Lauch  River,  26,  30,  37. 
Lautenbach,  33. 
Lauter  River,  104. 
League  of  Ten  Cities,  sviii,  52. 
Le  Blanc,  188. 
Le  Chevalier,  242-247. 
Lefebvre,  General,  8,  20,  290. 
Le  Lorrain,  Robert,  235,  250- 

252,  257. 
Leo  IX,  Pope,  166. 
Leszezynska,  Marie.  Queen  of 

France,  109-115,  271,  273. 
Leszczynski,  Stanislas,  King  of 

Poland,  107-115,  271. 
Leusse,  Count  de,  225-227. 
Lichtenberger,  M.,  196. 
Lille,  206. 
Limine,  xxlx. 
Lorraine,  Duke  of,  107,  132. 
Lothaire,  xv. 
Lothaire  II,  xv. 
Lotharingia.  xv. 
Louis  IX,  sis. 
Louis  XIII,  SI. 
Louis  XIV,  sis.   ssv.  ssvi. 

ssvii,  9,  64,  184,  209,  239, 

266. 

Louis  XV,  110-114,  234,  271, 

273,  278. 
Louis  XVI,  80. 
Louis  XVm,  98. 
Louis  Xapoleon,  264. 
Louis  the  German,  sv. 
Luneville,  273. 
Luppach,  1S6-190. 


Lutzelbourg;    Count  Renaud 

de,  203. 
Lutzen.  xxii. 
Luxe,  Jacques  de,  9. 
Lyons,  63. 

M 

MacMahon,  General,  221,  225. 

226. 
Mages.  2o7 
Majorelle,  138. 
^.lalade,  Etienne,  254. 
Maltzen,  Mademoiselle  de,  168. 
Mandeville,  Colonel  de,  99. 
Mannheim,  190. 
Mansart,  Jules  Hardouin,  237, 

239. 
Mantz,  Jean.  7. 
Marcel,  Pierre,  236. 
Maria  Theresa,  207. 
Marie  Antoinette,  222,  271, 

Marmoutier,  79-80,  202,  266, 
289. 

Marquaire,  46,  47. 
Marseillaise,    sssvii,  xssviii, 

M^insbourg,  Castle  of,  165- 
180. 

Martyrdom  of  Saint  Marguerite, 
123. 

Massol,  237,  247,  24S,  249, 

281,  289. 
\r 224 
Mazarin,  184. 

Medal    of    French  Fidelity, 


Index 


325 


Menoux,  Father,  62. 
Merat,  Father,  61,  62. 
Meszczeck,  Baron  de,  108. 
Metz,  xxix,  273. 
Moder  River,  116,  197,  203, 

204. 
Mollinger,  286. 
Monaco,  Prince  of,  184. 
Montaigne,  4-6,  170. 
Montalembert,  32. 
Montbarey,  Mademoiselle  de, 

224. 

Montbeliard,  Dukes  of,  53. 
Montfort,  Salins  de,  223,  263. 
Mont  Sainte-Odile,  138. 
Morsbronn,  220. 
Moser,  Nicolas,  7. 
Mulhouse,  hi,  xviii,  xxii,  xxv, 

xxix,  xxxv,  1-17,  92. 
Munster,  60. 

Murbach,  26,  30,  184,  266. 
N 

Nancy,  xxi. 
Naples,  xvii. 
Napoleon  I,  254. 
Napoleon  III,  67. 
Nassau-Sarrebruck,  Prince  of, 

206,  223. 
Natoire,  235. 
Neaulme,  Jean,  60. 
Neubourg,  201-204,  266. 
Neuwiller,  97-100,  266. 
Nieck,  Ignace,  xxxiii. 
Nieck,  Paul,  xxxiii. 
Niederhaslach,  266. 
Niedermunster,  144. 
Nietzsche,  196. 


Noailles,  Count  de,  278. 
Nordgau,  xviii. 
Notre  Dame,  229. 
Nuremberg,  36. 
Nystrom,  Dr.  Anton,  96.\ 

O 

Oberkampf  factory  at  Jouy,  9. 
Oberkirch,  Baroness  of,  223, 
252. 

Obermodern,  116,  117,  118. 
Obernai,  70,  75-77,  137. 
Olber  wine,  30. 

Opalinski,  Catherine,  113,  118 
Oppenort,  239. 
Orbey  Valley,  50. 
Otto,  133. 

Otto,  Dr.  Mark,  xxiii. 
Ottrott,  141-143. 

P 

Parabere,  114,  272. 
Pardaillan,  114,  272. 
Paris,  57,  176,  177,  238. 
Parrocel,  250. 
Pasture,  Roger  de  la,  42. 
Patte,  240. 
Paule,  Sieur,  251. 
Peace  Conference,  xi. 
Peace  of  Nimwegen,  xxv,  132. 
Peace  of  Ryswick,  xxvi,  231. 
Peace  of  Westphalia,  xxii,  53, 
231. 

Peasants'  War,  xxi. 
Perdrigue,  M.,  246. 
Pfeffel,  Gottfried  Conrad,  179. 
Pfleger,  299. 


326 


Index 


Philippe  V,  Count  of  Hanau- 

Lichtenberg,  118. 
Piedmont,  170. 
Pierrefonds,  67. 
Pius  VI,  171. 
Plombieres,  60. 
Plutarch,  170. 
Poinsot,  President,  186. 
Pompadour,  Madame  de,  57, 

60. 

Potsdam,  57. 

Pottle,  Lieutenant  Emory,  xi. 
Pradal,  General  Augustin,  99. 
Preiss,  299. 

Prie,  Madame  de,  110,  112. 
Provence,  xvii. 

R 

Radbod,  xviii. 

Rapp,  General,  20,  34,  290. 

Rathsamhausen,   Casimir  de, 

27,  269. 
Ravannes,  Abbe  de,  244. 
Reformation,  118. 
Regency  style,  239. 
Reichshoffen,  Chateau  of,  220- 

227. 

Rembrandt,  223. 
Renaissance,  63. 
Renaissance  architecture,  x,  2, 

19,  35,  36,  76,  81,  106,  197, 

200,  240. 
Renaissance  art,  23. 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 

Nantes,  xxvi. 
Revolution,  French,  xxvii,  45, 

51,  64,  137,  184,  187,  191, 

212,  254,  263. 


Revue  Alsacienne  illustree,  93. 
Rhine,  xxii,  xliv. 
Ribeaupierre,  Lord  of,  50. 
Richelieu,  Cardinal,  xxii,  273. 
Richer,  132. 
Riesling  wine,  54. 
Rigaud,  234,  238. 
Riquewihr,  50,  53. 
Riquewihr,  architecture  of,  56. 
Riquewihr,  vine  growing  at,  54. 
Ritter  of  Guebwiller,  28. 
Ritter,  Gabriel  Ignatius,  270. 
Robbers,  The,  191,  195. 
Robert,  the  Robber  Chief,  191- 
195. 

Robespierre,  187. 
Rohan,  Cardinals  de,  70,  232- 
265. 

Rohan,  Louis  de,  80. 

R o h a n-G uemenee,  Louis 

Edouard  de,  214,  252-254, 

263,  272. 
Rohan-Guemenee-Montbazon, 

Louis  Constantin  de,  252, 

262. 

Rohan-Rochefort,  Princess  de, 
260. 

Rohan-Soubise,  Armand  Gas- 
ton de,  233-252,  257. 

Rohan-Soubise,  family  of,  205. 

Rohan-Soubise,  Francois  de, 
235. 

Rohan  -  Soubise  -  Ventadour, 
Frangois  Armand  de,  252. 

Roll  of  Honor  of  the  French 
Army  for  Alsatians,  xxxix. 

Romanesque  architecture,  21, 

6  27,  29,  33,  52,  79,  97,  104, 
130,  144,  199. 


Index 


327 


Rosheim,  130-134. 
Rothenburg,  36,  53. 
Rothjacob,  Bailiff  of  Soultz, 

208,  219. 
Rouffach,  19. 
Rouget  de  l'lsle,  xliii. 
Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques,  178. 
Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  4. 

S 

Saint   Arbogast,    Church  at 

Rouffach,  20. 
Saint  Bernard,  204. 
Saint  Die,  188. 
Saint- Jean-des-Choux,  82. 
Saint-Leonard,  137-141. 
Saint  Odilie,  xiv,  70,  76,  77. 
Saint-Simon,  233. 
Sainte-Beuve,  172,  174,  187. 
Sainte-Odile,  70-75,  143,  149. 
Saintonge,  9. 
Salen,  Count  of,  131-132. 
Salle,  Marquise  de,  259. 
San  Gimignano,  53. 
Sand,  George,  194. 
Sarger,  Jean  Jacques,  268,  269, 

282. 

Sarre  Valley,  xliv. 
Sarrelouis,  207. 
Satrap  of  Boersch,  135-137. 
Saussard,  Sieur,  246. 
Saverne,  78,  79,  233,  234,  244, 

252,  257,  276. 
Saxe,  Christine  de,  259. 
Schalkendorf,  116,  117,  118, 

119. 

Scherb,     Chevalier  Leopold 
Elisee,  99. 


Schiller,  190-196. 
Schlestadt,  63-66. 
Schlestadt,  Death  mask  of,  65. 
Schmaltzer,  J.  J.,  8,  9. 
Schoepflin,  Joseph,  59. 
Schongauer,  Martin,  24,  39, 

40,  41. 
Schott,  Benjamin,  xxxiii. 
Schwetzingen,  57, 
Schwindenhammer,  Jean 

Henri,  190-196. 
Schworbrief,  xix. 
Sechelles,  Herault  de,  45. 
Sequani,  xi,  xii. 
Sevigne,  Madame  de,  233. 
Siena,  171. 

Sigismund,  Archduke,  xix-xxi. 
Sigismund  Francis,  Archduke, 

XXV. 

Sisters  of  Saint  Vincent  de 

Paul,  111. 
Sohr,  Battle  of,  60. 
Sommer,  Louis,  xxxiii. 
Soultz-Sous-Forets,  205-219. 
Sovereign  Council  of  Alsace, 

xxvi. 

Spetz,.  M.  Georges,  21. 
Spindler,  Charles,  138-141. 
Sporrer  family,  270. 
Stael,  Madame  de,  196. 
Stendhal,  Rome,  Naples  and 

Florence,  172. 
Stichaner,  Kreisdirector,  103. 
Stockle,  Simon  Dominique,  99. 
Stolberg,  Alo'isia  de,  Countess 

of  Albany,  166-180. 
Strasburg,  iii,  xviii,  xxii,  xxv, 

xxvi,  57,  58,  83,  114,  124, 

214,  224,  231,  233,  234,  235, 


328 


Index 


242,  248,  252,  253,  274, 
282. 

Strasburg,  Alsatian  Museum, 
127. 

Strasburg,  French  entry  into, 
xl,  xliv. 

Strasburg,  University  of,  95. 

Stuart,  Pretender  Charles  Ed- 
ward, 168-171. 

Sundgau,  xvii,  xviii,  xxi,  181, 
188,  189. 

T 

Taine,  71,  283. 
Tarlo,  Count,  108. 
Temptation  of  Saint  Anthony, 
42. 

Terrier,  Gabriel  du,  81. 
Teutonic  names,  xiii. 
Teutsch,  Edouard,  301. 
Thann,  xxx. 

Third  Order  of  Saint  Francis, 
73. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  xxi,  102, 

125,  185,  231. 
Titian,  44. 
Toul,  xxix. 

Treaty  of  Bale,  xxvii. 
Treaty  of  Cateau  Cambresis, 
xxix. 

Treaty  of  Luneville,  54. 
Treaty  of  Mersen,  xv. 
Treaty  of  Munster,  xxii-xxv. 
Treaty  of  Saint  Omer,  xx. 
Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees,  xxiv. 
Treaty  of  Verdun,  xv. 
Turckheim,  Battle  of,  19. 
Turenne,  19. 
Tuscany,  53,  170,  174. 


U 

Unterlinden,  Cloister  of,  21, 
24,  40,  52. 

V 

Valentinois  family,  184. 
Valfons,  Marquis  de,  233,  244, 

257. 
Valmy,  215. 
Vandals,  xiii. 

Vauchoux,  Chevalier  de,  110, 
113. 

Vauvenargues,  240. 
Verdun,  xxix,  238. 
Vernier,  Napoleon,  183. 
Versailles,  111,  229,  237,  238, 

240. 
Vesontio,  xii. 
Villa  Strozzi,  171,  179. 
Viollet-le-Duc,  67. 
Virgin  in  a  Thicket  of  Roses, 

The,  39,  41. 
Virgin  of  the  Spetz  Collection, 

24. 

Vogelweid,  M.,  185. 
Voltaire,  56-63,  175. 

W 

Wagner,  196. 
Walbourg,  199. 

Walcourt,     Joseph  Antoine 

Georges  de,  168. 
Waltz,  Andre,  269. 
War  of  1870,  64. 
Weber,  107. 
Weis,  273,  274. 
Weiss  River,  50,  53. 
Wellington,  226. 


Index 


329 


Werner    of    Hapsburg,  xvii, 
xviii. 

Wetterle,  Abbe,  xxxv,  299,  301, 
303. 

Wettolsheim,  165,  179. 
Weyland,  262. 
Wilhelm  II,  66,  67,  96,  294. 
Wimpff,  108. 

Wissembourg,   xxv,  101-115, 

198,  216,  272,  301. 
Wittich,    Professor  Werner, 

163. 
Woerth,  220. 


Wurmser,  216. 

Wurtemberg,  Dukes  of,  53,  54. 
Y 

York,  Cardinal,  171. 
Ypres,  53. 

Z 

Zillisheim,  96. 

Zix,  254. 

Zorn  River,  82. 

Zorn  von  Bulach,  303. 

Zutzendorf,  116. 


/ 


